(JustPatriots.com)- Democrats may not want to go to war against Big Tech now that it has become a partisan issue, but the issue of major tech companies operating monopolies and engaging in anti-competitive behavior has become so bad that they just can’t ignore it anymore.
Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine announced this week that he would be filing an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon. Racine argues that Amazon is engaging in anti-competitive prices and has unfairly raised the prices of products for customers and curbed innovation in the business spaces in which it operates.
It’s something that the Democrats can no longer ignore, even if it does prove that the Republicans were right on this all along.
Specifically, Racine is looking to stop Amazon from using price agreements to inhibit competition. The lawsuit requests that Amazon pay penalties and damages to stop it from happening again, and asks that the court to end Amazon’s ability to hurt competition through a “break up” of the company.
It’s a radical lawsuit and one that could possibly end up successfully breaking up some of Amazon’s business, and that was reflected in share prices which dropped by 1% on Tuesday.
The suit says that Amazon used contracts to stop third-party sellers on the platform from offering the same products for a cheaper price on other platforms. It effectively meant that there was no reason for shoppers to go to any other platform than Amazon, and allegedly creates an “artificially high price floor” across various online retail marketplaces.
If it’s the same price on Amazon, then why might people leave Amazon to choose other online retailers?
That’s precisely the point of the case, and Amazon could soon be forced to stop including price provisions like this in contracts with third-party sellers.
If Amazon falls, it could only be a matter of time before the social media giants are also held accountable.
