Open Markets Institute Welcomes Amazon Prime Settlement & Calls for Further Action from FTC
We call on the FTC to turn next to Amazon’s monopolization of key markets, starting with books
Open Markets Institute policy counsel Tara Pincock released the following statement on Amazon‘s $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission following allegations the ecommerce giant tricked customers into enrolling in Prime memberships.
“Today’s announcement that Amazon has agreed to settle charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission under its authority to police unfair and deceptive acts and practices is a welcome one for consumers and rule of law. This outcome demonstrates the strength of the FTC’s consumer protection powers, which give the agency leverage to secure meaningful relief and protect the public. It also underscores the importance of the FTC moving quickly to re-issue its click-to-cancel rule, which a court struck down on procedural—not substantive—grounds.
But today’s settlement is not enough. First, the executives who are making the decision should be held accountable when their decisions explicitly and knowingly violate the law. That did not happen here.
Second, the greatest threat Amazon poses lies in Amazon’s illegal monopolization of key markets—above all, the market for books. Through its dominant online bookstore, e-book platform, and publishing operations, Amazon exercises extraordinary control over what Americans can read, write, and publish. This monopoly power harms authors, publishers, booksellers, and ultimately the American public by restricting choice, distorting prices, and limiting democratic access to knowledge.
That is why the FTC must now use its full investigatory powers and bring an enforcement action under Section 2 of the Sherman Act against Amazon’s book monopoly. We recognize that decades of court rulings have weakened Section 2 enforcement, making such cases a gamble. But this is precisely why the FTC must act: strong cases against Amazon’s abuses are essential both to protect the public today and to begin rebuilding the legal foundation needed to restore the rule of law in monopoly cases.
The FTC has shown it can win strong settlements under its consumer protection authority. It now must show the same resolve in confronting Amazon’s monopolization of books and other industries that are vital to our democracy.”
Also see:
Letter to the FTC: Open Markets, the Authors Guild & American Booksellers Urge FTC and DOJ to Target Amazon’s Books Monopoly (August 2023)
“Throwing the Book at Amazon’s Monopoly Hold on Publishing,” by Tara Pincock and Sandeep Vaheesan in The Nation (January 2024)