Amazon Prime Suit Puts Subscription Services on Notice
For too long, companies have duped consumers into paying for things they didn’t want.
FTC Chair Lina Khan wants to make it easy for consumers to cancel subscriptions.
Photographer: Graeme Jennings/Washington Examiner/Bloomberg
A Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against Amazon seeks to punish the company for what the regulator says was a brazen manipulation of users, tricking them into signing up for expensive Amazon Prime memberships without their consent. Once users were enrolled, Amazon is accused of making it unreasonably difficult for them to back out.
Sound familiar? You could replace “Amazon” with many subscription-based businesses these days. The lawsuit, along with other regulatory efforts by the FTC, should serve as a warning to all of them: The game might soon be up.