Amazon could be facing another lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission, this time attacking it for its logistical arrangements, Ars Technica reports. This is the largest piece of a wider case that Lina Khan, Biden’s FTC Chair, has been building against the Big Tech giant.
This lawsuit cuts to the core of Amazon’s business, its online e-commerce platform. Other than selling its own products, Amazon also offers fulfillment services to smaller companies. When adding referral, warehousing, and advertising fees, Amazon can take as much as 50% of a merchant’s revenue.
Khan and her team allege that Amazon penalizes sellers who do not wish to use all its services, making this an uncompetitive practise. European Union regulators are also investigating Amazon on similar charges. The investigation was already started in 2019, before Khan herself was a member of the FTC.
Amazon is already facing trouble with its quasi-automatic signup of its Prime membership, which the FTC labels as a “dark pattern.” It is also on the receiving end of a lawsuit accusing it of violating customer’s privacy by allowing employees to view private recordings of security cameras set inside homes.
Amazon is attempting to get Khan recused in this case based on prior negative comments she has made against the company. To avoid a conflict of interest, the FTC ethics board has also asked Khan to step aside but she has refused to do so.
