[mardifoufs]

Legal precedent exists for a reason. It's not waving the white flag, it's having actual standards and rules. I think Amazon is a shithole of a website and one of the worst examples of downward spirals into mediocrity, but there has to be some semblance of fairness.

Targeting amazon for something Walmart or Target does, but without targeting them too is just wack. You can't just handwave that issue by saying that we can just start there! Because it's been decades, it's standard industry practices, and the law hasn't changed (I know that the FTC has a wide executive mandate, but conjuring a rule is still not great).

Even if you want Amazon broken down, you don't want such a process to start on super shaky grounds like this. I don't know how to explain exactly what I mean here, but it just feels off!

[bbor]

The basic question is "does the FTC have the right to make rules about our society". I think you're answering "no, it should be the legislative only", which sounds great but I think is a serious status-quo bias. The FTC makes rules about our society all the time, both _de jure_ and _de facto_.

There is no moral justification for "starting here", but there is a definite practical one. It would be quite hard for the FTC to open 3-5 different massive lawsuits at the same time, each of which would require tons of funding at a time when funding is seeming scarcer by the day.

[mardifoufs]

Actually, I think I agree with most of your points! I wasn't trying to advocate for the status quo or even a legislative only approach. I think what I would prefer is more of an "EPA" like approach of setting progressive timelines for compliance to a new standard or rule, then strict enforcement. Instead of grand and "bomb shell" one off attempts that sometimes feel just bizarre. Maybe the FTC does not have the power to implement something similar to the FTC , but it definitely would help more imo.