Adobe Sued by US Department of Justice for Subscription Practices

TapTechNews, June 18 - The US Department of Justice has recently added a new member to its series of high-profile lawsuits against tech giants. The well-known software company Adobe has become the latest target due to its controversial subscription cancellation process. TapTechNews noticed that the Department of Justice believes that Adobe's approach is equivalent to 'tricking' users into subscribing and has officially filed a lawsuit against the company.

The US Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) document today listed several accusations against Adobe, and here are some of the key points: For many years, Adobe has enrolled users into the default subscription package that is most beneficial to the company without clearly disclosing the relevant important terms. For example, when users choose the 'Annual, Paid Monthly' (APM) subscription package, they are not informed that it is a one-year subscription plan, and there will be a huge 'Early Termination Fee' (ETF) if they terminate early, which can be up to several hundred US dollars. Adobe only clearly discloses this fee when users try to cancel the subscription, turning this hidden fee into a powerful user-retention tool to 'trap' users in subscriptions they no longer need. During the user registration process, Adobe hides the important terms of the APM package behind fine print, optional text boxes, and hyperlinks, and these disclosed information is not easily noticeable, and most users will never see it. In addition, Adobe also hinders users from unsubscribing through a cumbersome and complex cancellation process. In this process, when users try to cancel the subscription, Adobe will suddenly inform them of the previously hidden 'Early Termination Fee'. Through these means, Adobe has violated federal laws designed to protect consumers.

It can be seen from the quoted text that this document does not shy away from using strong language to emphasize Adobe's alleged improper behavior.