Amazon wins partial dismissal of US antitrust lawsuit

Amazon.com Inc won partial dismissal of a U.S. Federal Trade Commission lawsuit accusing it of maintaining amerciable monopolies, though the details of the ruling by a national tribunal successful Seattle connected Monday were not instantly clear.

The FTC has accused the online retailer of utilizing anti-competitive tactics to support dominance among online superstores and marketplaces. Amazon asked U.S. District Judge John Chun to dismiss the case successful December, saying the FTC had raised nary grounds of harm to consumers.

Last year, the FTC alleged Amazon.com, which has 1 cardinal items successful its online superstore, was utilizing an algorithm that pushed up prices U.S. households paid by much than $1 billion. Amazon has said successful tribunal papers it stopped utilizing the programme successful 2019.

Chun issued a sealed ruling, partially granting Amazon's motion. The FTC volition beryllium allowed to proceed to prosecute immoderate claims the justice did not permanently dismiss, tribunal records showed.

Chun besides ruled the lawsuit volition beryllium tried successful 2 parts, rejecting Amazon's bid to person the FTC contiguous grounds of the alleged violations and its projected remedies successful the aforesaid trial.

A spokesperson for the FTC declined to remark connected the order. An Amazon spokesperson did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

In its ailment past year, the FTC claimed Amazon hampers competition, successful portion by pushing sellers to usage its advertizing and fulfillment services. Amazon argued successful its question to disregard the lawsuit that its price-matching and Prime shipping services payment consumers and are examples of its efforts to vie with thousands of online and brick-and-mortar retailers.

The lawsuit is 1 of 5 blockbuster lawsuits wherever antitrust regulators astatine the FTC and U.S. Department of Justice are going aft Big Tech. Facebook proprietor Meta Platforms and Apple are some being sued, and Alphabet's Google is facing 2 lawsuits, including 1 wherever a justice precocious recovered it unlawfully thwarted competition among online hunt engines.

The Amazon.com lawsuit is an important 1 for FTC Chair Lina Khan, who has agelong pushed to situation the powerfulness of the immense online retailer. In 2017, Khan wrote an influential world nonfiction arguing the company's operation and practices posed anticompetitive concerns and had escaped antitrust scrutiny.