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Cross-posted from petapixel.com [by Jeremy Gray]
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against Adobe in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, alleging that the software company obscures fees and makes it illegally tricky for users to cancel software subscriptions.
The complete complaint, filed today, June 17, has been filed by the DOJ after notification and referral from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
“For years, Adobe has harmed consumers by enrolling them in its default, most lucrative subscription plan without clearly disclosing important plan terms,” the lawsuit alleges. “Adobe fails to adequately disclose to consumers that by signing up for the ‘Annual, Paid Monthly’ subscription plan, they are agreeing to a yearlong commitment and a hefty early termination fee that can amount to hundreds of dollars. Adobe clearly discloses the early termination fee only when subscribers attempt to cancel, turning the stealth early termination fee into a powerful retention too that [redacted] by trapping consumers in subscriptions they no longer want.”