Amazon settles U.S. lawsuit over Prime subscriptions : NPR

Amazon Prime Pedicab Living Person in the streets of New York, Manhattan.

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UCG / UCG / Universal Images Group via G / Universal Images Group Editorial

Amazon has agreed to settle a historic case on its main membership program, according to American regulators, who had allegedly alleged that the web conceptions of the company manipulated tens of millions of people to pay subscriptions which were deliberately difficult to cancel.

The Federal Trade Commission says that Amazon, without admission to reprehensible acts, agreed to pay a billion historic dollars in civilian penalties to the government and $ 1.5 billion in additional payments to assigned consumers.

NPR contacted Amazon to comment.

The parties concluded an agreement when the trial was just starting in the hometown of Amazon, Seattle. A little unusual for a dense antitrust case, a jury was planned to determine if Amazon has broken the law.

The FTC, which regulates competition, brought a legal action in 2023. It accused Amazon of illegally to use “manipulative, coercive or misleading” conceptions to obtain buyers registered with privileged subscriptions in self-renewal, which currently cost $ 139 per year or $ 14.99 per month. The regulators also allegedly alleged that Amazon had deliberately constructed a complex cancellation process and in several stages to discourage people from quitting smoking – and restoring on the plans several times to simplify the process because it has led to less subscribers.

Throughout the Battle of the Tribunal, Amazon denied having violated the laws. He argued that his conceptions and disclosure followed or even exceeded the broadly used industry standards. The company said its processes were clear for the vast majority of Amazon customers, who chose Prime for advantages such as two -day free delivery.

Amazon still faces another more important federal trial, in which the FTC accused the company of operating as a monopoly. The technology giant described him as “false on the facts and on the law”. This trial was scheduled for the beginning of 2027, before the same judge, John Chun of the American district court for the western district of Washington.

Publisher’s note: Amazon is one of the recent financial supporters of NPR and pays to distribute NPR content.