Amazon

On the eve of Independent Bookstore Day, ABA filed a motion to intervene in the FTC's complaint against Amazon, seeking to bolster their case for monopolistic behavior and ensure independent bookstores are represented in the case. 

Back in November 2019, Danny Caine of the Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, released a zine called How to Resist Amazon. The zine was so successful, Caine published it as a book. In advance of the release of the revised edition, David Grogan, Director of ABFE, Advocacy, and Public Policy for ABA, sat down with Danny to discuss his book, antitrust, and, of course, how one exactly does resist Amazon. 

ABA makes the case for investigating Amazon for antitrust violations, concluding that it is best for the country’s economy and its consumers that Amazon be broken up into at least four autonomous companies: retail, e-commerce marketplace platform, web services, and logistics. 

The petition focuses on Amazon’s disproportionate impact on the independent business community, saying, “Amazon’s predatory tactics threaten our existence.”

https://templatelab.com/competition-in-digital-markets/The subcommittee proposed changes to antitrust law to rein in Big Tech’s power. Among additional recommendations were ways to make it easier to go after dominant platforms for predatory pricing.

“In short, booksellers, simply by doing what they do best, will help to protect one of the fundamental institutions of democracy, which is the book industry itself,” says Lynn.

Lynn’s book, out September 29, examines how monopoly power, specifically that of Google, Amazon, and Facebook, threatens liberty, democracy, prosperity, and national security. 

Scheduled to testify at the hearing are the CEOs of Amazon (Jeff Bezos), Apple (Tim Cook), Facebook (Mark Zuckerberg), and Google (Sundar Pichai). This will mark Bezos’ first appearance before Congress.

After initially saying it would not send Bezos but rather “the appropriate executive” to testify, Amazon reversed course and said it was willing to make Bezos available.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon used sensitive business information from individual third-party sellers on its platform to inform the development of Amazon’s own competing products. 

The PBS documentary features interviews with Amazon executives, former employees, industry insiders, regulators, and notable Amazon critics who touch on a number of different topics relating to Amazon.