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action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/8\/16\/23307953\/amazon-jeff-bezos-andy-jassy-ftc-antitrust-investigation<\/a> This week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revealed a recent filing from Amazon<\/a> (you can read it in full below), showing the internet retail giant\u2019s requests for limits on the agency\u2019s investigation of its business practices.<\/p>\n According to lawyers representing Amazon, CEO Andy Jassy, former CEO Jeff Bezos, and several other employees, the overly \u201cburdensome\u201d investigation included serving civil investigative demands (CIDs), which Bloomberg<\/em> describes<\/a> as similar to subpoenas, to 20 Amazon employees at their homes. However, like Elon Musk\u2019s ongoing squabble with the SEC<\/a>, the 49-page document hits its stride while claiming FTC individual CIDs requesting testimony from Bezos and Jassy specifically served only to harass them:<\/p>\n Mr. Bezos and Mr. Jassy further petition to quash or limit the Individual CIDs issued to them in this matter. Staff\u2019s demand that Mr. Bezos and Mr. Jassy testify at an IH (individual hearing) on an open-ended list of topics on which they have no unique knowledge is grossly unreasonable, unduly burdensome, and calculated to serve no other purpose than to harass Amazon\u2019s highest-ranking executives and disrupt its business operations. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Submitted on August 5th, the document confirms details about inquiries we\u2019ve generally heard rumors about, as the FTC submitted CIDs for information on Amazon Prime and other programs. They write that this round of inquiries began with a request for details of the sign-up and cancellation process for Amazon Prime in April 2021 and has proceeded in fits and starts ever since, with a June 2022 CID covering five additional non-Prime subscription plans.<\/p>\n The June 2022 CID is unworkable and unfair, reflecting less of a responsible effort to collect the facts about a variety of longstanding and highly popular subscription programs than a one-sided effort to force Amazon to meet impossible-to-satisfy demands. The June 2022 CID \u2018goes beyond Prime sign-up and cancellation to sweep in at least five additional subscription programs, each with their own unique facts, history, and personnel. June 2022 CID \u2018goes beyond Prime sign-up and cancellation to sweep in at least five additional subscription programs, each with their own unique facts, history, and personnel. Over five weeks, the CID demands answers to multiple complex interrogatories and IH testimony on extraordinarily broad topics for which no witness could responsibly be prepared to provide complete and accurate testimony. Moreover, many of the requests are argumentative and vague, compounding the impossibility of responding in the required timeframe.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Now, Amazon says that FTC staff are pursuing three days of testimony, with \u201cone on Amazon Prime cancellation, one on Amazon Prime enrollment, and one on \u2018other topics,\u2019 which encompasses details concerning at least four additional programs operated by various Amazon business units and one operated by a third party.\u201d Exactly which programs those are appears to be left unclear, but Amazon\u2019s purchase of MGM, as well as its recent One Medical<\/a> and iRobot<\/a> acquisitions, likely mean there are more than a few potential antitrust issues for investigators to consider.<\/p>\n It\u2019s normal for companies to fight this kind of discovery request \u2014 but given the high stakes in the FTC\u2019s investigation, this particular fight has high stakes for both Amazon and federal regulators. In a similar spirit, Amazon submitted a recusal motion for FTC head Lina Khan<\/a> last year that didn\u2019t go anywhere \u2014 but maybe this time, things will be different.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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