Amazon is under fire again from some authors, agents and independent booksellers in the US, who are calling for the Department of Justice to investigate the company for antitrust violations in its bookselling business. “Amazon has used its dominance in ways that we believe harm the interests of America’s readers, impoverish the book industry as a whole, damage the careers of (and generate fear among) many authors, and impede the free flow of ideas in our society,”
claims a new letter sent to the DoJ by representative bodies. Amazon has yet to respond publicly. Author Douglas Preston is leading the pressure for action, and getting in early with his defence against any claims that the authors are simply trying to hold back the tide of innovation in their industry. “Disruption is healthy, an inevitable byproduct of a world that changes,” he said. “But there isn’t a single example in American history where the concentration of power in one company has in the long run benefited consumers.”
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