The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Tags Amazon "Immoral, Oppressive and Unscrupulous"

1. Unfair methods of competition and unfair acts or practices under PUTPCPL

530. Plaintiff Commonwealth of Pennsylvania repeats and re-alleges and incorporates by reference each and every paragraph and allegation of the Complaint as if fully set forth

531. Regardless of the nature or quality of Amazon’s aforementioned acts or practices on the competitive process or competition, Amazon’s conduct has been otherwise unfair or unconscionable because they offend public policy as established by statutes, the common law, or otherwise, are immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous, or substantially injurious to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and consumers.

532. Amazon’s unfair conduct has resulted in the Commonwealth and consumers being substantially injured by paying more for products than they otherwise would have in a free and open market.

533. Amazon’s impairment of choice and the competitive process has had the following effects: (1) competition in the online superstore market and the market for online marketplace services has been restrained, suppressed and eliminated throughout Pennsylvania; (2) online superstore market prices and the market for online marketplace services prices have been raised, maintained and stabilized at artificially-high levels throughout Pennsylvania; (3) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and consumers have been deprived of free and open markets; and (4) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and consumers have paid supra-competitive, artificially inflated prices for online superstore products and online marketplace services.

534. Amazon’s impairment of choice and the competitive process have caused the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and consumers to suffer and to continue to suffer loss of money by means of Amazon’s use or employment of unfair methods of competition and/or unfair acts or practices as set forth above.

535. Amazon’s conduct more fully described herein is unlawful pursuant to 73 P.S. § 201-3.

536. The aforesaid methods, acts or practices constitute unfair methods of competition and/or unfair acts or practices within their meaning under Section 2(4) of the PUTPCPL, including, but not limited to, “Engaging in any other fraudulent or deceptive conduct which creates a likelihood of confusion or of misunderstanding” in violation of 73 P.S. § 201-2(4)(xxi).

537. The above-described conduct created the likelihood of confusion and misunderstanding and exploited unfair advantage of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and consumers seeking to exercise a meaningful choice in markets expected to be free of impairment to the competitive process and thus constitutes an unfair method of competition through one or more of the following:

(a) Violating Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2, through willfully maintaining its monopoly power over the online superstore market as set forth in the preceding counts;

(b) Violating Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2, through willfully maintaining its monopoly power over the market for online marketplace services as set forth in the preceding counts;

(c) Violating Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C § 45(a);

(d) Violating Pennsylvania antitrust common law through willfully maintaining its monopoly power over the online superstore market;

(e) Violating Pennsylvania antitrust common law through willfully maintaining its monopoly power over the market for online marketplace services; and/or

(f) Engaging in any conduct which causes substantial injury to consumers.

538. The above-described conduct substantially injured consumers and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

539. The Commonwealth seeks entry of a permanent injunction restraining Amazon’s unlawful conduct and mandating corrective measures pursuant to 73 P. S. § 201-4.

540. The Commonwealth also requests that the Court direct Amazon to restore to the Commonwealth on behalf of all victims the ill-gotten gains acquired from their inflated pricing during the period of time Amazon’s unlawful conduct took place, pursuant to 73 P. S. § 201-4.1.