The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against online mega-retailer Amazon, accusing it of intentionally misleading consumers into signing up for its Prime membership program and making it difficult for customers to cancel the membership.

Under these intentionally deceptive practices, or “dark patterns” as the governing agency describes them, the FTC accuses the online retailer of violating the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.

The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The central prong in the government’s argument is that Amazon used a variety of deceptive design tactics to steer customers in the checkout process to Prime membership enrollment. This design tactic resulted in customers signing up for Prime without informed consent.

It's estimated that there are over 200 million Amazon Prime members around the world. The subscription program costs $139 a year, and enrollment in the program allows customers to enjoy special perks, deals, and free shipping options not available to non-prime members. The program was introduced in 2005, but it wasn't until 2011 that membership enrollment really took off.

FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement, “Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only frustrating users but also costing them significant money,”

Amazon has pushed back against the claims, calling them “false on the facts and the law.” Spokesperson Heather Layman shared, “The truth is that customers love Prime, and by design, we make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up for or cancel their Prime membership.”

Investigations into the company's sign-up and membership cancellation policies begin in March 2021. Tensions continued after founder Jeff Bezos pushed back against the FTC's inquiry to have him testify before the agency on the company’s billing practices.

Another claim made by the FTC accuses Amazon leadership of intentionally slowing or rejecting changes that would have made it easier for customers to avoid signing up for the subscription or canceling the subscription once they've already been enrolled. The lawsuit argues that the company avoided making such changes because it would “adversely affect Amazon’s bottom line.”

One such challenge non-prime customers faced occurred during a product purchase when they were met with a button that allowed them to complete the transaction while simultaneously signing up for Amazon Prime. The checkout process did not openly alert customers that they were signing up for the subscription service. Instead, the button would alert them, "Get FREE Two-Day Delivery with Prime." After customers continued with checkout, they subsequently enrolled in the free-month trial which then turned into a paid subscription service.

Once customers signed up, they had to move through a difficult cancellation process that was intentionally confusing. According to the lawsuit, the company reportedly used the term “Iliad Flow'' internally to describe the cancellation process. The term is in reference to the 700-page long, 24-book, epic poem written by Homer in the 7th Century BC that describes the final battles of the Greek-Trojan War. The inside report allegedly goes on to detail how Amazon has long since relied on tricking its customers into signing up for Prime.

After pressure mounted in 2021, the company did take some steps in April to alleviate its Prime Membership sign-up tactics and cancellation procedures. Still, the FTC argues the company has not done enough to protect customers.