In June of 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed suit against Amazon.com, Inc. (“Amazon”) for allegedly deceptively enrolling customers into its Amazon Prime (“Prime”) membership program and making cancellation from the program excessively difficult. Prime provides access to exclusive digital content, consumer deals, and faster shipping for its estimated 197 million members. (Jordan Valinsky, CNN). The FTC’s suit marks one of the more significant uses of consumer protection law against a technology giant of this scale. (Caroline Haskins, Wired). The case centered around so-called “dark patterns,” subtle user interface designs and features aimed at manipulating consumer behavior. (FTC). This post seeks to explain the FTC’s complaint, acknowledge the personal liability implications of the action, and consider what the enforcement may suggest for corporate liability and consumer protections actions moving forward.

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