DC’s antitrust lawsuit against Amazon comes back from the dead

An appeals court has reopened the District of Columbia’s antitrust case against Amazon, which the District alleges illegally raises prices on competing platforms. In a decision released Thursday, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled that the District’s allegations “credibly suggest” that Amazon already has a monopoly in online marketplaces or is close to achieving one.

Former District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon in 2021, but it was dismissed by a court in 2022. The lawsuit accuses Amazon of engaging in anticompetitive conduct by restricting third-party sellers from offering products on other online stores, including their own websites, at lower prices than on Amazon — effectively controlling the prices of goods outside its own platform.

Although Amazon in 2019 reversed its policy requiring sellers to offer products at the lowest prices on its online marketplace, the lawsuit claims that Amazon’s Fair Pricing Policy is a “substantially identical substitute.”

Amazon, not surprisingly, disagrees with the court’s decision to reopen the case. “Like any store owner who wouldn’t want to promote a bad deal to their customers, we don’t highlight or promote deals that aren’t competitively priced,” Amazon spokesman Tim Doyle said in a statement to Edge“It’s part of our commitment to offering low prices to earn and maintain customer trust, which we believe is the right decision for both consumers and retailers in the long term.”

Amazon is also facing antitrust scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission, which has filed a massive lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that its monopoly power restricts competition and harms consumers.