SEATTLE—Today, NetChoice, with the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and Chamber of Progress, submitted a formal reply to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after it filed a motion earlier this week to stop the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington from considering all amicus curiae briefs supporting Amazon.
In our brief, we urge the court to include all properly filed amicus briefs in their consideration of the case—as is the norm in all federal courts.
“This is clearly another attempt by the FTC to steamroll institutional norms and processes to advance its progressive agenda. We urge the court to grant our motion and to reject the FTC’s effort to suppress information that undercuts its case,” said Carl Szabo, NetChoice Vice President & General Counsel. “As much as the FTC would like to ignore facts and reality, it seems their case is so weak that they’re afraid of a few amicus briefs.”
The FTC’s attempt to prevent the court from reading these briefs rests more on the fact that the agency does not agree with our positions. The FTC received no amicus briefs in support of its case.
Our reply explains that the FTC’s motion is inconsistent, conflicts with applicable law and places an unnecessary burden on the court to resolve a dispute over briefs that are plainly not controversial.
You can read CCIA, NetChoice and Chamber of Progress’ reply to the FTC’s motion here.
Please contact Krista Chavez at press@netchoice.org with inquiries.