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First, let's keep in mind that the "predatory" comment came from someone at O'Reilly. They're a small tech publisher that offers DRM-free versions of their books.
That said, "predatory" behavior in a formal sense is extremely hard to prove, and takes a little more than Amazon lowballing the ebook reader market by a few bucks.
In an informal sense, though, it's largely correct; Amazon is definitely trying to consolidate its position, and not get pushed around by publishers; naturally, this involves Amazon pushing around publishers.
It's no different than when Barnes & Noble was the Big Dog, ran a bunch of indie bookstores out of business, and terrified the entire industry by trying to merge with Ingram.
And of course, if Amazon does succeed in wresting significant control back from the publishers, it's only a matter of time before the people who are inclined to kick the publishers will spit twice as much venom at Amazon -- since they will be handling so many roles: Publisher, facilitator of self-publishing, retailer, equipment and software provider, supplier of reviews, recommendation engine….
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