Australia sues Amazon for making allegedly unfair contracts with subscribers
Australia's consumer watchdog has sued Amazon for allegedly making unfair contracts with subscribers, claiming the company used terms that gave it excessive rights while limiting consumers' ability to seek refunds or pursue legal action.
Background
- Australia's corporate regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has filed a lawsuit against Amazon in federal court, alleging the company used fine-print "unfair contract terms" in its Prime membership sign-up process.
- The ACCC specifically claims that Amazon's terms allowed it to automatically renew subscriptions and take payment from subscribers' credit cards without "express and informed consent," potentially trapping users in ongoing fees they did not knowingly agree to.
- This is part of a broader crackdown by Australian authorities on major tech platforms' subscription practices, following similar actions against other companies like Google and Apple over auto-renewal policies.
- Amazon Prime is the company's subscription service offering faster shipping, video streaming, and other perks; it has millions of subscribers in Australia.
- The lawsuit focuses on the period between 2022 and 2024, with the ACCC seeking penalties and changes to Amazon's contracting practices.