A collection of bookstores, writers, and antitrust campaigners are pleading with the government to look into Amazon’s dominance of the book industry in light of growing indications that the FTC is getting ready to sue the business for breaking antitrust rules.
In a letter to the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday, the antitrust think tank Open Markets Institute, the Authors Guild, and the American Booksellers Association urged the authorities to limit Amazon’s monopoly in its capacity as a public bookseller.
Amazon Faces Antitrust Probe Over Alleged Book Market Manipulation
According to Barry Lynn, executive director of the Open Markets Institute, a research and advocacy organization devoted to bolstering anti-monopoly laws, the groups are pressuring the Justice Department to look into not only the size of Amazon as a bookseller but also its influence over the book market, particularly its capacity to promote some books on its website while burying others.
The letter, which is sent to Jonathan Kanter, head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, and Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, comes as the FTC looks to be nearing a decision to file an antitrust complaint against Amazon.
A clue that legal action could be coming soon is the expectation that representatives from Amazon will meet with commission members this week to discuss the potential lawsuit.
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Government Examines Amazon’s Diverse Ventures
A request for comment from Amazon did not receive a prompt response. As part of its probe of the corporation, the government’s case may or may not examine Amazon’s function as a bookstore.
While Amazon began as a small online bookstore nearly 30 years ago, it has since grown into a retail behemoth with a foothold in other sectors thanks to its forays into cloud computing, the acquisition of Whole Foods and the movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, as well as its expansion into cloud computing.
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