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Connecticut AG Probes Amazon’s e-Books

By  |  January 14, 2021

Connecticut is actively investigating how Amazon sells and distributes digital books, according to the state’s attorney general, the latest of several state and federal probes into the tech giant’s business practices, reported the Wall Street Journal.

The investigation is examining whether Amazon engaged in anticompetitive behavior in the e-book business through its agreements with certain publishers, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement.

Connecticut asked Amazon to provide documents related to its dealings with five of the largest US book publishers, according to a subpoena issued in 2019. The Tech Transparency Project, a nonprofit that investigates technology platforms, obtained the subpoena through an open records request and shared it with The Wall Street Journal.

Amazon declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Mr. Tong said the company has cooperated with the subpoena.

“Our office continues to aggressively monitor this market to protect fair competition for consumers, authors, and other e-book retailers,” Mr. Tong said in a statement.