US Federal Trade Commission Plans to Prosecute Amazon's Core Online Marketplace, Citing Alleged Abuse of Power

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plans to prosecute Amazon.com Inc's AMZN core online marketplace.

Amazon allegedly leverages its power to reward online merchants that use its logistics services and penalize those who do not, Bloomberg cites familiar sources.

FTC investigators and Lina Khan's office have been honing the complaint for several months and finalizing key details such as where to file suit. 

Khan and her colleagues are keen to file before personnel changes in August.

Based on her public comments, Khan is unlikely to accept compromises from Amazon and could seek to restructure the company — a dramatic outcome that Amazon would surely appeal to.

Amazon executives will get a final chance to argue their case before the FTC's three commissioners, including Khan.

In 2022, the FTC interviewed almost 30 Amazon employees under oath.

The FTC has already filed three cases against Amazon.com.

Last week, the FTC slapped a case against the company for allegedly duping Prime customers.

The FTC alleged that Amazon had conned millions of consumers with manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user-interface designs known as "dark patterns" to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions.

The U.S. government's crackdown on Big Tech already includes complaints against Alphabet Inc's GOOG GOOGL Google and Meta Platforms Inc META, along with an investigation into Apple Inc AAPL.

Price Action: AMZN shares traded higher by 0.43% at $129.60 premarket on the last check Thursday.

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