The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Wednesday filed suit against Amazon on charges the online sales and entertainment company is illegally forcing consumers to sign up for its Prime service and then preventing them from being able to cancel their subscriptions.
The suit represents the FTC’s most aggressive action against Amazon to date.
The FTC claimed that Amazon has used “manipulative, coercive or deceptive” design tactics on its website to “dupe millions of consumers” into enrolling in Prime and then “knowingly complicating” the cancelation process with “byzantine procedures.”
Amazon denied the claims as false, adding that its services are “clear and simple for customers to both sign up for and cancel.”