“Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only frustrating users but also costing them significant money,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan in a news release. “These manipulative tactics harm consumers and law-abiding businesses alike.”
Amazon increased the price of Prime in 2022 to $139 a year or $14.99 a month.
Wednesday’s filing is part of a broader series of probes into Amazon’s business. Last month, the FTC settled two lawsuits against Amazon, one regarding its Alexa speaker recording children and another regarding customer privacy and its Ring home surveillance system.
Khan rose to prominence in part because of a paper she authored titled “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” in which she argued that the e-commerce behemoth’s operations should be legally reevaluated. In 2021, Amazon tried and failed to have Khan recused from regulating the company.
Other companies the FTC has sued over use of “dark patterns” interfaces include internet phone company Vonage, video game maker Epic, and Credit Karma. The Epic suit settled for $245 million in December; the Vonage case settled for $100 million.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post. Interim CEO Patty Stonesifer sits on Amazon’s board. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the FTC’s complaint, Amazon “considerably revamped” its cancellation process before the suit being filed.
“However, before that time, the primary purpose of the Prime cancellation process was not to enable subscribers to cancel, but rather to thwart them,” the complaint alleges. “Fittingly, Amazon named that process ‘Iliad,’ which refers to Homer’s epic about the long, arduous Trojan War.”