Page 6 - Kattison Avenue - Fall 2025 - Issue 15

FTC’s Landmark $2.5 Billion Amazon Settlement (continued)

the FTC sought to show the jury that “more members, more money was Amazon goal #1.” According to Law360, the FTC's counsel told
jurors during opening arguments that, by the company's own estimation, there were more than 35 million "nonconsensual" Amazon
Prime enrollments over a seven-year period.
Although no law requires companies to offer an online cancellation option, the FTC alleged that Amazon's methods made cancellation
unreasonably difficult. By contrast, enrollment could be accomplished in just two clicks. The FTC alleged that Amazon executives
slowed or rejected proposals to simplify cancellation because easier exits hurt subscription revenue. At trial, the FTC attorneys showed
that Amazon had calculated the revenue growth achieved by the imposition of each new hurdle to cancellation. Again, while absolutely
nothing prevented consumers from cancelling, each new design feature made it more likely that consumers who had subscribed would
give up or give in.

Former FTC Chair Lina Khan explained: “Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only
frustrating users but also costing them significant money. These manipulative tactics harm consumers and law-abiding businesses alike.
The FTC will continue to vigorously protect Americans from ‘dark patterns’ and other unfair or deceptive practices in digital markets.”
Examples from the FTC’s Case

The FTC’s complaint provided some screenshots that supposedly illustrated its concerns with Amazon’s behavior. We provide those for
your information here. None seem individually problematic, but taken together, they formed what the FTC characterized as an unduly
burdensome cancellation process:

Figure 1: Screenshot from the FTC’s complaint

6 Kattison Avenue | Fall 2025