A coalition of citizen groups has urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to block Amazon’s $8.45 billion purchase of MGM in order to slow Amazon’s growing dominance.
In a letter, published in full by Deadline, they say the acquisition “is not simply a one-off deal for streaming content; it is the latest move in Amazon’s overarching strategy to create numerous interconnected points of dominance over businesses and consumers. We applaud the Commission’s investigation of this merger because it is a clear example of Amazon’s larger pattern of monopolistic practices”.
It adds that through the acquisition Amazon will gain control over additional levers of power in the digital economy. Although this is a problem in the streaming market where MGM and Amazon overlap, “with the MGM acquisition Amazon will gain control over must-have content, as well as control over additional advertising and IP rights that allow it to stretch its dominance over consumers and other businesses”.
As previously reported by Broadband TV News, the acquisition of MGM by Amazon was first announced this May.
