Antitrust

Janet from Avid Bookshop posed a great question concerning antitrust rules. We think this is a question or concern to a great many booksellers.

ABA makes the case for investigating Amazon for antitrust violations, concluding that it is best for the country’s economy and its consumers that Amazon be broken up into at least four autonomous companies: retail, e-commerce marketplace platform, web services, and logistics. 

The event, “Reining in Monopoly Power: Small Businesses and the Push to Strengthen Antitrust Laws,” is an opportunity for booksellers to learn about recent antitrust updates and participate in a live Q&A.

Booksellers are encouraged to register for an upcoming antitrust webinar with Rep. David Cicilline, chair of the House Antitrust Subcommittee, on Monday, February 22.

“Reining in Monopoly Power: Small Businesses and the Push to Strengthen Antitrust Laws” is an opportunity for booksellers to learn about recent antitrust updates and participate in a live Q&A.

“The announcement today that Penguin Random House, the biggest of the Big 5 publishers, is buying Simon & Schuster is alarming,” says ABA CEO Allison Hill.

The petition focuses on Amazon’s disproportionate impact on the independent business community, saying, “Amazon’s predatory tactics threaten our existence.”

https://templatelab.com/competition-in-digital-markets/The subcommittee proposed changes to antitrust law to rein in Big Tech’s power. Among additional recommendations were ways to make it easier to go after dominant platforms for predatory pricing.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon used sensitive business information from individual third-party sellers on its platform to inform the development of Amazon’s own competing products. 

A panel of speakers will look at the growing monopoly power in the retailing and tech sector, with a focus on the extraordinary market dominance of Amazon.