Amazon Faces FTC Antitrust Suit After “Last Rites” Meeting Failed

Amazon
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officials did not offer any concessions to the Federal Trade Commission in pursuit of a settlement over antitrust claims. This paves the way for regulators to file a lawsuit later in September.

On August 15 several top officials of Amazon’s legal team had a video call with FTC officials. This was a so-called “Last Rites” meeting. This is often the final step before a court encounter. According to people informed of the meeting, this was the time when Amazon could make their case to the regulators to avoid a possible lawsuit. FTC are said to have been working on this for a year.

Amazon lawyers are said to have made the point that a break-up of the company could result in higher prices and slower shipments to customers. The FTC lawyers, are said not to have outlines to Amazon which sort of remedies would be acceptable to the agency.

The FTC has been examining Amazon’s practices, including whether it favors its own products over competitive products that are offered on the platform, and how it treats sellers on Amazon.com.

The lawsuit will target several of Amazon’s business practices, including fulfillment by Amazon Logistics program and pricing on Amazon.com by third party sellers according to the report. The lawsuit suggests that Amazon should make “structural remedies” that could lead to the break-up of the company.

Lina Kahn, the chair of the FTC, published in the 2017 Yale Law Journal, an article that made a case that Amazon wielded too much power. The FTC has now made a year-long investigation of Amazon and is unlikely that the agency will give-up their lawsuit.

POSTSCRIPT: There is no way to predict the outcome of the lawsuit. Amazon has able lawyers to defend the company and the FTC has a long investigation where facts must be answered. According to published comments, the FTC lawyers did not offer any remedies at the final meeting.