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Amazon Asks Federal Judge To Dismiss The FTC’s Antitrust Lawsuit Against The Company
On Friday, Amazon’s lawyers asked a federal judge to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against the e-commerce giant, claiming that the FTC is challenging measures that promote customers and competition.
Their’s response came more than two months after the FTC filed a landmark complaint against the Seattle-based company, alleging it inflates prices and stifles competition in what the agency refers to as the “online superstore market” and the field of “online marketplace services.”
They struck back in a 31-page brief in a federal court in Washington state, contending that the FTC-designated anti-competitive behavior consisted of ordinary retail practices that benefit consumers.
Amazon Asks Federal Judge To Dismiss The FTC’s Antitrust Lawsuit Against The Company
The FTC’s complaint, filed in September, accused the business of anti-competitive actions by enacting policies discouraging third-party sellers from offering lower product rates on non-Amazon sites.
According to the agency, they concealed listings are offered at lower costs on competing sites. At the same time, it emphasized that the company was charging merchants ever greater fees and raising prices on its site. It also claimed that The company made vendors reliant on logistics and delivery services, allowing it to generate billions of dollars in income each year.
Amazon Asks Federal Judge To Dismiss The FTC’s Antitrust Lawsuit Against The Company
Amazon stated in its request for dismissal that the complaint criticizes Amazon for offering competitive prices while declining to offer uncompetitive ones.
“Amazon promptly matches rivals’ discounts, features competitively priced deals rather than overpriced ones, and ensures best-in-class delivery for its Prime subscribers,” the business stated in its regulatory filing. “Those practices — the targets of this antitrust Complaint— benefit consumers and are the essence of competition.”
Amazon also denied charges that it restricts Prime eligibility on products — which signifies speedy shipping — on whether sellers use its Fulfillment by Amazon service.
The FTC’s case, unredacted in November, charged that Amazon employed a technology nicknamed “Project Nessie” to predict where it could boost prices and have other shopping sites follow suit. According to the agency, the compnay utilized the algorithm to raise prices on specific products and then maintained the higher prices after other sites followed suit.
Amazon Asks Federal Judge To Dismiss The FTC’s Antitrust Lawsuit Against The Company
In its filing on Friday, They stated that it experimented with the “automated pricing system” Nessie years ago. It claimed that Nessie was designed to “match to the second-lowest competitor instead of the absolute lowest” for “limited products and duration.” The company also stated that it will discontinue the tests in 2019 and match its prices to the lowest ones available now.
The company also reacted angrily to the agency’s claims that it is a monopoly. It stated in its lawsuit that it confronts competition from small stores to huge online and physical retailers such as Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Apple, among others.
SOURCE – (AP)
