Amazon antitrust lawsuit filed by DC attorney general thrown in court

An antitrust suit filed against Amazon by District of Columbia Attorney General Carl Racine was dismissed in court on Friday, according to a report in The New York Times.

DC Superior Court Judge Hiram Puig-Lugo approved Amazon's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which accused the e-commerce giant of allowing third-party sellers to offer lower prices for its products on other platforms, including its websites. Was arrested and accused of anti-behavior. Court records seen by the NYT do not indicate why Judge Puig-Lugo decided to dismiss the complaint.

“We believe the Superior Court found this to be incorrect, and that its oral decision did not consider the allegations detailed in the complaint, the full scope of the anti-competition agreements, the extensive briefing, and the recent decision of a federal court. lawsuit," Melissa Geller, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office, said in a statement to The Verge.

The "nearly similar" lawsuit Geller indicates is a class action complaint that goes after Amazon for similar reasons, and claims the company pressures sellers to sell products for the same or lower price than elsewhere. puts. Earlier this week, Seattle District Judge Richard A. Jones denied part of Amazon's motion to dismiss the complaint.

Racine's lawsuit, first filed in May 2021, is based on the same logic; It alleges that Amazon's restrictive policies harm consumers by forcing sellers to raise their prices on Amazon and other online platforms, as sellers must account for Amazon's fees when pricing their products. In 2019, Amazon quietly withdrew a clause that requires sellers to offer products at the cheapest prices on its marketplace, however, both lawsuits claim that these same restrictions are now in line with Amazon's fair pricing policy. applicable to sellers under

Geller says, “We are considering our legal options and we will continue to struggle to develop anti-argument jurisprudence in our local courts and use our concentrated power to tilt the playing field unfairly in our favor.” Will hold Amazon accountable for using it."