Amazon is using anti-competitive practices in its e-book business, alleged Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. He has therefore initiated an antitrust investigation, reports US media.

“Connecticut has an active and ongoing antitrust investigation against Amazon for potentially anticompetitive regulations in its e-book distribution agreements with certain publishers, “Tong said, according to Reuters. He has already 2019 asked five of the largest US publishers for comments, writes the Wall Street Journal . The specific provisions involved have not been published; Amazon is said to have refused to comment on the processes.

Giants under pressure Connecticut was involved in an antitrust investigation into Apple’s e-book business a good seven years ago. The group was found guilty of anticompetitive agreements and rebounded 2016 at the US Supreme Court with its request to have the guilty verdict reversed. Reuters writes that Tong wants to follow this tradition. In October 2020 the antitrust subcommittee of the Justice Committee in the US House of Representatives published an investigation report in which it stated that the four had abused their market dominance and thus prevented fair competition. Within the corporations, general structural separations should be made within the corporations. That could be tantamount to “breaking up” the corporations.

(anw)