Amazon sues college store group over ads complaint

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Amazon.com Inc. is asking a judge to declare that the online retailer's ads for discounted new and used college textbooks are neither false nor misleading, contrary to complaints by the trade association that represents college bookstores.

Amazon filed suit Tuesday in Seattle federal court against the National Association of College Stores Inc., which represents 3,100 college bookstores.

It says in the suit that the bookstore group is "actively seeking" to limit Amazon's ads that indicate students can save as much as 30 percent off the price on new textbooks and 90 percent on used ones by purchasing textbooks through Amazon.com.

The suit follows a complaint the bookstore group filed in March with the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division in New York, calling Amazon's ads false and misleading.