DC's antitrust case against Amazon comes to life again

An appeals court has reopened an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon that the Washington Attorney General filed more than three years ago. The online retailer now faces allegations that it illegally increased prices for consumers.

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2021 and related to Amazon's practices related to third-party sellers on its platform. Specifically, it referred to a provision in the company's agreements with third-party sellers that allowed it to penalize companies that offered its products at lower prices on non-Amazon platforms. Karl Racine, the attorney general at the time, said those agreements allowed the company to “impose an artificially high minimum price across the entire online retail market.” Racine later expanded the case to include Amazon's pricing tactics for wholesalers.

Amazon has denied these allegations, and the lawsuit was dismissed in 2022. But an appeals court has now overturned that decision. “Taken together, the district's allegations about Amazon's market share and the maintenance of its market power through the contested agreements plausibly suggest that Amazon either already has a monopoly position over online marketplaces or is on the verge of a 'dangerous likelihood of attaining a monopoly position,'” the judge wrote.

“We disagree with the District of Columbia's allegations and look forward to presenting facts in court that demonstrate how these policies are good for consumers,” Amazon spokesman Tim Doyle said in a statement to Engadget. “Just like any store owner who doesn't want to give their customers a bad deal, we don't highlight or promote deals that aren't priced competitively. It's part of our commitment to offer low prices to earn and maintain customer trust, which we believe is the right decision for consumers and sellers in the long run.”

The reversal exacerbates Amazon's antitrust woes. The company is also facing lawsuits from the Federal Trade Commission and more than a dozen states. The UK antitrust authority has also launched an investigation into the company's $4 billion investment in Anthropic.

In a statement, current DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb noted that the district was “the first jurisdiction to take antitrust action against the company.” “Now our case continues, and we will continue to fight to stop Amazon's unfair and unlawful practices that have raised prices for consumers in the district and stifled innovation and choice in online retail.”

Update, August 22, 2024, 7:13 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with a statement from Amazon.