Amazon faces US trial over alleged Prime subscription tricks | International

WASHINGTON, Sept 23, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Jury selection began Monday in a US government lawsuit accusing e-commerce giant Amazon of using tricks to enroll millions of customers into its Prime subscription service and then making it nearly impossible to cancel. Opening remarks by rival attorneys were slated for Tuesday, with witness testimony to follow. The Federal Trade Commission's complaint, filed in June 2023, alleges that Amazon knowingly used designs known as "dark patterns" to trick consumers into signing up for the $139-per-year Prime service during checkouts. The case centers on two main allegations: that Amazon enrolled customers without clear consent through confusing checkout processes, and that it created a deliberately complex cancellation system internally nicknamed "Iliad" -- after Homer's epic...