The ruling is a major defeat for Amazon, which has tried to have the case thrown out
of ConsumerAffairsA federal judge has ruled that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can move forward with its high-profile antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, dealing a significant blow to the e-commerce giant. However, the judge dismissed a handful of claims made by individual states involved in the legal battle, offering Amazon a minor reprieve.
The ruling, issued last week by U.S. District Judge John H. Chun in Washington and unsealed Monday, marks a major defeat for Amazon, which has spent months attempting to have the case thrown out. The trial is scheduled for October 2026, setting the stage for one of the most significant legal battles in the companys nearly 30-year history.
We are pleased with the courts decision and look forward to moving this case forward, FTC spokesperson Doug Farrar said in a statement.
Last year, the FTC alleged Amazon.com, which has 1 billion items in its online superstore, was using an algorithm that pushed up prices U.S. households paid by more than $1 billion. Amazon has said in court papers it stopped using the program in 2019.
While Judge Chun allowed federal antitrust and consumer protection claims to move forward, he dismissed some state-level allegations, particularly those brought by New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Maryland. The ruling limits certain aspects of the case but leaves the core allegations against Amazon intact.
'FTC must prove its claims'
Amazon, for its part, is stridently denying the claims. It argues that the FTCs claims misrepresent how consumers and sellers engage in online shopping.
The ruling at this early stage requires the court to assume all facts alleged in the complaint are true. They are not, Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle said. He further claimed that the FTCs case is built on a flawed premise, arguing that it falsely assumes shoppers only consider major sites like Walmart, Target, Amazon, and eBay when making purchases.
Moving forward, the FTC will have to prove its claims in court, and were confident those claims will not hold up when the FTC has to prove them with evidence, Doyle added, asserting that the agencys approach could ultimately make online shopping more difficult and costly.
Posted: 2025-03-07 19:21:16
