John Lopatka on California’s Case Against Amazon

Yahoo Finance – ICLE Academic Affiliate John Lopatka was quoted by Yahoo Finance in a story about the California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s lawsuit charging anticompetitive behavior by Amazon. You can read full story here.

“There’s certainly an anticompetitive story to be told, but to me there’s also a compelling free rider defense for Amazon,” said Penn State Law professor John Lopatka, who’s referring to Amazon’s concern that sellers will use Amazon’s platform to generate interest in their products, then sell them elsewhere.

…But the case is still one that’s difficult to prove, Lopatka said. That’s in part because Amazon’s seller agreements technically permit sellers to set their own prices, and in part because of Amazon’s push to feature the lowest possible price — both tend to appear as policies that foster competition.