Report: Amazon seller pleads guilty to federal antitrust charges

Seattle – A seller of posters on Amazon.com has reportedly pled guilty to antitrust charges from the U.S. Justice Department. According to Reuters, David Topkins of San Francisco conspired to manipulate the price of posters on Amazon Marketplace between September 2013 and January 2014.



Topkins, who was charged with violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, will pay $20,000 in fines and cooperate in an ongoing federal probe. Amazon was not charged with any wrongdoing. Topkins could have faced up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. This marks the first federal antitrust prosecution of e-commerce transactions.



"We will not tolerate anticompetitive conduct, whether it occurs in a smoke-filled room or over the Internet using complex pricing algorithms," Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Justice Department's antitrust unit said in a statement. "American consumers have the right to a free and fair marketplace online, as well as in brick-and-mortar businesses."