A federal judge on Monday partially dismissed the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.
But few details are currently available about U.S. District Judge John Chun's ruling, which was filed under seal.
In December, Amazon asked a judge to dismiss the FTC's lawsuit, arguing that the practices the FTC deemed anticompetitive were actually “common retail practices that appear to benefit consumers.” I asked for it.
The FTC and 17 states sued Amazon last September, accusing the e-commerce giant of anticompetitive practices that jack up prices for shoppers and collect excessively high fees from sellers.
The agency said Amazon could prevent other online retailers from offering lower prices by tying Prime eligibility to use of Amazon's fulfillment services, allowing sellers to offer their products on other platforms. He claimed that the company was using tactics to increase prices when purchasing products.
But Amazon argued in a motion to dismiss in December that its pricing mechanism is standard discounting tactics encouraged by antitrust laws. It also disputed claims that Prime eligibility was conditional on the use of its fulfillment services.
“Amazon responds promptly to competitors' discounts, offers competitively priced items rather than overpriced items, and guarantees best-in-class shipping for Prime members,” the filing claims. “These practices that are the subject of this antitrust complaint benefit consumers and are the essence of competition.”
Amazon and the FTC declined to comment on Monday's decision.
