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Amazon could face heightened antitrust scrutiny under a new agreement between U.S. regulators that puts it under closer watch by the Federal Trade Commission, three people familiar with the matter said.
The move is the result of the FTC and the Department of Justice, the U.S. government's leading antitrust enforcement agencies, quietly divvying up competition oversight of two of the country's top tech companies, according to those people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the government's work is confidential.
The Justice Department this week declined to comment, citing a policy against confirming or denying investigations. The FTC also declined to comment. Amazon did not immediately have comment. (Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive of Amazon, owns The Washington Post.)
"If there is an active discussion of where the boundaries are, that would indicate there's a reason for that discussion, whether it's a new interest, study or investigation," said Maureen Ohlhausen, a partner at the law firm Baker Botts who previously served as chair of the FTC.
The early moves from the government's twin antitrust agencies mark the latest attempts by U.S. regulators to better supervise tech giants. Earlier this year, the FTC established a special task force it said would monitor tech and competition, including "investigating any potential anticompetitive conduct in those markets, and taking enforcement actions when warranted."
For years, the European Union has taken the lead in probing whether Silicon Valley too easily stamps out rivals to the detriment of web users. E.U. officials are actively investigating Amazon and have repeatedly fined Google for violating its antitrust laws.
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Amazon-could-face-heightened-antitrust-scrutiny-13916551.php
