The FTC yesterday sued Amazon in federal court in Seattle, alleging that the company has "knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime." Amazon denies it. Yeah, you do! All I know is, I don't think I've gotten a renewal offer in three years. Via Reuters:

Amazon has used "manipulative, coercive or deceptive user-interface designs known as 'dark patterns' to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions," the FTC said as it seeks civil penalties and a permanent injunction to prevent future violations.

The lawsuit is one of several actions taken by President Joe Biden's administration intended to rein in the outsized market power of Big Tech firms as it tries to increase competition to protect consumers.

The FTC said Amazon Prime is the world's largest subscription program, generating $25 billion in revenue annually. It offers fast, free shipping on millions of items, various discounts and access to movies, music and television series, as well as other benefits.

Amazon's response was basically, "Who, us?"

The FTC has been investigating sign-up and cancellation processes for the Prime program since March 2021.

Consumers who attempted to cancel Prime were faced with multiple labyrinthine steps to accomplish the task of cancelling, according to the complaint. The FTC complaint said Amazon used the term "Iliad Flow" to describe the process it began in 2016, referencing Homer's epic poem about the lengthy Trojan war.

Amazon also committed "intentional misconduct" meant to delay the FTC's investigation by providing "bad faith" responses to requests for documents, the agency said.

Just want to say that American consumers have just about given up. We're ground down relentlessly by these megacorps, because no one ever seems to do anything about it. Well, by putting Lina Khan in charge, Joe Biden sent a signal. That's why Republicans hate her!

I, for one, am glad to see it. I suspect we will see even bigger things in the second Biden term.