skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, December 23, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Suspect held after woman set on fire in NY subway car dies; Trump threatens to take back Panama Canal over 'ridiculous' fees; A year of growth for juvenile diversion programs in SD; The ups and downs of combating rural grocery deserts in ND; Report: AZ one of eight Western states that could improve conservation policies.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Congress passes a last-minute budget stopgap. Trump's second-term tariffs could harm farmers, and future budget cuts could reduce much-needed federal programs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural folks could soon be shut out of loans for natural disasters if Project 2025 has its way, Taos, New Mexico weighs options for its housing shortage, and the top states providing America's Christmas trees revealed.

Oregon joins FTC lawsuit to break up Amazon

play audio
Play

Monday, October 16, 2023   

Oregon is one of 17 states to join the Federal Trade Commission in its lawsuit to break up the online retail giant Amazon.

The FTC has brought an antitrust suit against the marketplace behemoth, charging the company with illegally maintaining a monopoly.

Ron Knox, senior researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, said half of online sales happen through Amazon's website, meaning small businesses have to play by Amazon's rules if they want to reach potential customers.

"What Amazon is accused of doing is essentially abusing and ripping off those small businesses, those third-party sellers that have to be on Amazon.com in order to reach the customers," Knox asserted. "It does that through these ever-increasing and often exorbitant fees that it charges."

Knox pointed out Amazon also stipulates third-party sellers cannot sell their products for less than what they sell on Amazon's website, which leads many people to buy through Amazon, especially if they have free shipping through its "Amazon Prime" membership. The company countered if the lawsuit succeeds, it would actually hurt consumers by leading to increased prices and slower shipping.

Knox noted the FTC is using a straightforward application of antitrust laws in this suit.

"It says, 'You can't have a monopoly and use illegal and illicit tactics to maintain or grow that monopoly power. You have to let other people compete,'" Knox explained. "What the FTC is saying is that Amazon, through its actions, is not doing that."

Knox believes if courts rule in favor of the FTC and the 17 states in the lawsuit, consumers will see the difference.

"When they see the lower prices, when they see new marketplaces entering, when they have different and innovative ways to ship their goods -- to get goods shipped to their house, and the small businesses can respond to that need -- I think it's going to make for a better marketplace," Knox stressed.

This story was produced with original reporting from Sonali Kolhatkar for Yes! Magazine.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A Climate Central report showed "lost winter" days could mean fewer picturesque winter scenes like this covered bridge crossing near Lancaster, Pa. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Across Pennsylvania and other northern U.S. states, climate change -- from burning oil, coal and methane gas -- is increasing the number of winter …


Social Issues

play sound

The Internal Revenue Service will be in the crosshairs in the second Trump administration, as the president-elect's recently announced choice to run …

Social Issues

play sound

Alabama is part of a national program aimed at diversifying early childhood education. The Enriching Public Pre-K Through Inclusion of Family Child …


Six million U.S. students attend a school where there is a School Resource Officer but no school psychologist on staff, according to a Brookings Institution report. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

West Virginia schools' reliance on zero-tolerance policies are driving more kids into the juvenile justice system - with lifelong consequences…

Social Issues

play sound

Recent changes to Florida's education laws have removed information on consent, contraceptives and prenatal development from many health lessons at …

Surveys by the National Alliance on Mental Illness have found 64% of people living with some form of mental illness say the holidays tend to make their conditions worse. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

If you find yourself in a less than festive mood this holiday season, you are not alone. In Wisconsin, the recent school shooting tragedy in Madison …

Environment

play sound

By Jennifer Oldham for Civil Eats.Broadcast version by Eric Galatas for Colorado News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public…

Environment

play sound

From declining commodity prices to unpredictable weather, American farmers are at a crossroads - especially smaller operations. And they're …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021