The District of Columbia Court of Appeals on Thursday found there was sufficient evidence of anticompetitive behavior by Amazon to allow Washington DC's antitrust case against the e-commerce giant to move forward.

The decision [PDF] reverses a DC Superior Court ruling that granted Amazon's motion to dismiss the case.

In 2021, then Attorney General of Washington DC Karl Racine filed a complaint against Amazon alleging that the company's pricing policies are unfair because they affect pricing on competing platforms. The lawsuit claimed that Amazon had engaged in price fixing through the applications of contracts and policies, to the detriment of third-party sellers and consumers.

Amazon succeeded in having the case dismissed in March 2022.

Now the DC appeals court has determined that the District of Columbia met its legal burden by making allegations plausible enough to allow the case to continue.

"Viewed as a whole, the District’s allegations about Amazon’s market share and maintenance of its market power through the challenged agreements plausibly suggest that Amazon either already possesses monopoly power over online marketplaces or is close to a 'dangerous probability of achieving monopoly power," the ruling says.

The District of Columbia's current Attorney General, Brian Schwalb, welcomed the decision.

"We are pleased that the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s decision to dismiss our antitrust lawsuit against Amazon," said Schwalb in a statement provided to The Register.

"When we filed this lawsuit in 2021, DC was the first jurisdiction to take antitrust enforcement action against Amazon, and we described in detail how Amazon’s illegal, anticompetitive practices were harming DC residents and business owners. Now, our case will move forward, and we will continue fighting to stop Amazon’s unfair and unlawful practices that have raised prices for District consumers and stifled innovation and choice across online retail."

The Open Markets Institute, a progressive advocacy organization, also endorsed the appellate decision.

"Although Amazon charges third-party sellers substantial commissions and fees that amount to a tax of as high as 50 percent of the retail price, the corporation prohibits sellers from offering discounted prices on lower-cost rival platforms and their own sites," the group said. "In other words, online sellers must incorporate the Amazon tax into their prices wherever they market their goods.

"Further, Amazon compels suppliers to guarantee its profit margins on the sales of their goods. This conduct robs merchants and suppliers of pricing freedom, unfairly impedes the growth of competitors, and ultimately raises prices for consumers."

Amazon, as might be anticipated, isn't thrilled.

"We disagree with the District of Columbia's allegations and look forward to presenting facts in court that demonstrate how good these policies are for consumers," a company spokesperson told The Register. "Just like any store owner who wouldn’t want to promote a bad deal to their customers, we don’t highlight or promote offers that are not competitively priced. It’s part of our commitment to featuring low prices to earn and maintain customer trust, which we believe is the right decision for both consumers and sellers in the long run." ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/08/22/amazon_antitrust_dc/