Symbolic defeat for supporters of a strong antitrust line against GAFAM in the United States: The Washington DC Supreme Court dismissed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon on March 18. The prosecutor’s office plans to appeal.
The conditions imposed by Amazon on the sellers in question
The Washington DC Attorney General’s complaint dates back to May 2021. She blames Amazon for preventing sellers in its marketplace from offering lower prices elsewhere. For the prosecutor, this practice “ has made shopping online more expensive for consumers “. Until 2019 this Amazon policy was explicit in its rules. The company then made a purely cosmetic change, which amounts to the same thing.
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In the lawsuit filed by the firm in October 2021, Amazon argues that it is legal to put price restrictions into its contracts.
According to the text of the company relayed by the wall street journalthis practice is for the good of consumers, “ One of Amazon’s primary business goals in serving its customers is to have a reputation for low prices, and Amazon is constantly working to maintain this reputation by offering competitively priced products on its store. “.
On the Pacific, hope is not dead
These arguments convinced Judge Hiram Puig-Lugo, who did not detail his decision. For the Attorney General’s spokesperson, We believe that the Superior Court erred and that its oral decision did not appear to consider the detailed allegations of the complaint, the full scope of the anti-competitive agreements, the extensive briefing and the recent decision of a federal court of allow an almost identical lawsuit to go forward “.
Attorney General Karl Racine, if he is a figure in the proceedings against GAFAM, had chosen caution by filing a complaint in local justice, in Washington DC and not in federal court. This procedure was initiated in the state of Washington, the native land of Amazon. Very similarly, the judge on site dismissed Amazon’s request for dismissal. Even if the envisioned call to the US capital fails, all eyes could turn to the other side of the United States.