David Topkins was accused of conspiring with other poster sellers to manipulate prices on Amazon Marketplace, a website for third-party sellers, from September 2013 to January 2014, according to papers filed in San Francisco federal court, reuters.com reports.
The Justice Department said Topkins also agreed to pay a USD 20,000 criminal fine and cooperate with its probe. His plea agreement requires court approval. Contact information for Topkins lawyer was not immediately available. No one answered a phone call to a David Topkins listed in San Francisco. Topkins was accused of conspiring with other poster sellers to use algorithms, for which he wrote computer code, to coordinate price changes, and then share information about poster prices and sales.
The Justice Department said this activity violated the Sherman Act, a federal antitrust law, by causing posters to be sold at collusive, non-competitive prices. Amazon Marketplace competes with eBay in letting merchants sell goods online. It is separate from Amazons business, where it sells books, electronics and other goods online.
Amazon was not charged in the case against Topkins. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the charge against Topkins carries a maximum 10-year prison term and USD 1 million fine, the Justice Department said.
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