“Once upon a time there was a company that wanted to rule the world…” It might sound like the beginning of a children’s story, but it’s not, and this post ties in perfectly with yesterday’s article, in which I wondered if big tech was already above the law. Unfortunately, this is the only way to interpret Amazon’s letter to the US Federal Trade Commission asking for its newly appointed director, the prestigious academic specializing in antitrust law Lina Khan, to recuse herself from all decisions involving the company.
The idea is not so much mind-boggling as fantastical: Amazon argues that as Lina Khan has outlined her views on the company’s de facto monopoly in a number of articles, and in a particularly brilliant one entitled “Amazon’s antitrust paradox”, she should be excluded from any decision related to it. Basically, the company is saying “this judge doesn’t work for me, bring me another one,” as though Amazon has the right to choose who should make legislative decisions affecting it. The challenge, moreover, comes in light of the FTC’s upcoming scrutiny of the company’s acquisition of MGM, something that falls squarely within the FTC’s purview.
Dear Amazon: if Joe Biden decides to appoint as FTC director Lina Khan, who is obviously not somebody he found wandering along Pennsylvania Avenue, but is instead a leading antitrust expert who has written some…
