April 9 (Reuters) - Amazon.com ( AMZN ) has asked a U.S. court to

dismiss a lawsuit claiming its cloud-computing unit AWS stamped

out a startup that worked with "Fortnite" maker Epic Games and

other customers to provide fast internet connections.

Amazon ( AMZN ) in a filing on Monday in Seattle federal court said

Subspace omega LLC's lawsuit should be dismissed for a number of

reasons, including its failure to show AWS had any requirement

to provide free network connections to it in locations around

the globe.

Wyoming-based web traffic optimization company Subspace,

which shuttered in 2022, had "peered" with Amazon ( AMZN ) on its

networks in an arrangement designed to benefit both companies,

its lawsuit said. Subspace accused Amazon ( AMZN ) of violating antitrust

law by ending the arrangement in a "calculated" move to drive

the company out of business. It is seeking $417 million in

damages.

Subspace's attorneys in a statement on Tuesday said Amazon ( AMZN )

"has a vested interest in forcing innovators out of business and

limiting the free market to create an illegal moat around AWS's

monopoly profits."

The statement said Amazon's ( AMZN ) "abuse of its market position in

this case is precisely the behavior that the law prohibits."

Amazon ( AMZN ) did not immediately respond to a request for comment

on Tuesday.

Subspace's lawsuit focuses partly on a claim that Amazon ( AMZN ) has

"refused to deal" with it, abusing its market power in the cloud

networking arena.

Amazon ( AMZN ) took over Subspace's "network optimization" services

for Epic Games after ending the companies' peering agreement.

Epic's multiplayer shooter Fortnite is among the most popular

online games. Subspace said it could no longer perform under its

contract for Epic, which it said was its largest client.

Amazon ( AMZN ) in Monday's filing said "companies negotiate with one

another every day," and that "if not receiving the terms you

want in a business deal were an antitrust violation, courts

would be flooded with contrived antitrust claims."

Amazon ( AMZN ) is facing other antitrust lawsuits from consumers and

government agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission.

The federal agency has accused Amazon ( AMZN ) of unlawfully trying

to bar sellers from offering better deals at other sites. Amazon ( AMZN )

has denied wrongdoing, and its bid to dismiss the lawsuit is

pending.

The case is Subspace omega LLC v. Amazon Web Services Inc,

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, No.

2:23-cv-01772-TL.

For Subspace: Brett Vinson of Reynolds Burton and Vinson;

and Tony Lee and Thomas Urban II of Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth

For Amazon ( AMZN ): Kenneth Reinker of Cleary Gottlieb Steen &

Hamilton; and Shylah Alfonso of Perkins Coie

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