FTC Antitrust Officials Proceed with Investigation of Amazon

Small businesses that sell products on Amazon’s third-party marketplace are currently being interviewed by a team of investigators from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to determine if Amazon is using its market power to hurt competition.The interviews suggest the agency is in the early stages of learning how Amazon works, identifying practices that are against the law and identifying markets dominated by Amazon. In July, the European Union began its own probe into Amazon’s alleged anti-competitive activities, including the practice of offering its own products that go head-to-head against its sellers, a complaint merchants have had for years. Amazon is not the only tech giant receiving increased attention from the federal government over alleged anti-competitive practices.Other companies include Apple, Facebook, Google and Twitter.