Amazon managers allegedly asked their workers to use eBay’s private-messaging system to get the latter’s sellers to move to Amazon’s own platform, according to a lawsuit eBay filed Wednesday. Ebay claims this violates the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and that it was “coordinated, targeted and designed to inflict harm on eBay.” Amazon has not commented on the suit. (New York Times)

Talking point: This suit is similar to another complaint eBay made in the fall that has now moved to arbitration. This time, eBay is alleging it’s a larger effort by Amazon management, rather than individual workers soliciting the sellers. For both e-commerce firms, getting and retaining top sellers is key to having a wide, affordable inventory. Though eBay began as an e-auction platform, the majority of its sales are now at a fixed price, making it more of a competitor to Amazon—and they both prefer that vendors sell exclusively on their respective platforms. The suit comes at a crucial time for Amazon, as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission homes in on the Seattle-based giant and whether it engages in anti-competitive practices.