Booksellers and authors demanded the DOJ (Department of Justice) investigate that “Amazon has used its dominance in ways that we believe harm the interests of America’s readers, impoverish the book industry as a whole, damage the careers of (and generate fear among) many authors, and impede the free flow of ideas in our society.” As reported in the New York Times “Accusing Amazon of Antitrust Violations, Authors and Booksellers Demand Inquiry,” the American Booksellers Association included this statement in their July 14, 2015 letter to the Department of Justice:
Given Amazon’s dominant market share, no publisher — regardless the size — can afford to not do business with them, whatever the cost. And no one knows this better than Amazon, which has ruthlessly cut off the sales of publishers large and small when they have not yielded to Amazon’s strong-arm negotiating demands.
These antitrust allegations are not a surprise, and it will be interesting to see what the DOJ given Amazon’s evolution and history.