FTC drags Amazon to court over “labyrinthine” Prime cancellation process could this change online subscriptions forever?
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), has taken Amazon to court, describing the process of canceling a Prime membership as “labyrinthine”.
This is a four-page journey involving six clicks and fifteen different options before completion.
At the center of the case is the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), a 2010 law that requires companies to:
Clearly disclose terms of service,
Obtain customers’ informed consent, and
Provide simple cancellation options.
The FTC alleges Amazon violated these rules by:
Collecting billing details without fully disclosing Prime’s terms,
Charging customers without genuine informed consent, and
Making cancellation deliberately difficult.
If the FTC succeeds, Amazon could face major financial penalties and be forced to redesign its subscription system under court supervision.
Amazon’s Defense
Amazon has pushed back, arguing that:
ROSCA does not explicitly ban its practices,
The FTC is stretching the law,
Prime enrollment and cancellation have already been improved, and
The Trial
The trial, expected to last four weeks, will feature internal company documents, testimony from Amazon executives, and expert witnesses.
For consumers, the outcome could reshape how online subscriptions are presented, billed, and canceled in the future.
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