Amazon sued by the FTC and 17 states in landmark antitrust case
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Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) was formally sued by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general on Tuesday on charges that the e-commerce giant is a monopolist that uses a set of interlocking anticompetitive and unfair strategies to illegally maintain its monopoly power. As widely expected, the FTC and the states claimed Amazon's (AMZN) actions allow it to stop rivals and sellers from lowering prices, degrade quality for shoppers, overcharge sellers, stifle innovation, and prevent rivals from fairly competing in the retail sector.
The complaint alleges that Amazon (AMZN) violates the law not because it is big, but because it engages in a course of exclusionary conduct that prevents current competitors from growing and new competitors from emerging.
The FTC and states allege that Amazonâs (AMZN) anticompetitive conduct occurs the online superstore market that serves shoppers and the market for online marketplace services purchased by sellers. 
More from the FTC: "By stifling competition on price, product selection, quality, and by preventing its current or future rivals from attracting a critical mass of shoppers and sellers, Amazon ensures that no current or future rival can threaten its dominance. Amazonâs far-reaching schemes impact hundreds of billions of dollars in retail sales every year, touch hundreds of thousands of products sold by businesses big and small and affect over a hundred million shoppers."
Amazon's statement on the antitrust lawsuit: "Todayâs suit makes clear the FTCâs focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition. The practices the FTC is challenging have helped to spur competition and innovation across the retail industry, and have produced greater selection, lower prices, and faster delivery speeds for Amazon customers and greater opportunity for the many businesses that sell in Amazonâs store. If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businessesâthe opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do. The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court."
Shares of Amazon (AMZN) were down 3.10% at 12:10 p.m. on Tuesday in comparison to ~1% drops for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index.

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