FTC takes Amazon to court, claims it tricked users into costly subscriptions

FTC takes Amazon to court, claims it tricked users into costly subscriptions

Amazon is facing trial in Seattle federal court over allegations that the e-commerce giant tricked customers into signing up for Prime memberships and made it deliberately difficult to cancel subscriptions, CBS News reports.

U.S. Federal Trade Commission Settles With Amazon Just Two Days Into Trial – Pixel Envy

In 2023 Lina Khan, then-chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, sued Amazon over using (PDF) “manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user-interface designs known as ‘dark patterns’ to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically-renewing Prime subscriptions” and “knowingly complicat[ing] the cancellation process”. Some people thought this case was a long-shot, or attempted to use Khan’s scholarship against her. Earlier this week, the trial …

Amazon Goes on Trial as FTC Accuses it of Duping Prime Subscribers

The U.S. trial began on Tuesday, as the Federal Trade Commission accused Amazon of tricking its customers into unwanted Prime subscriptions. The case may test how far regulators can challenge big tech’s business practices.  According to the FTC, Amazon was aware that millions of users were being signed up for Prime without fully understanding the process. However, instead of improving its sign-up and cancellation flows, the agency claims Amazon …