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The US government has taken legal action against software heavyweight Adobe for allegedly violating consumer protection laws, including the imposition of a difficult cancellation process.<\/p>\n
It has been claimed<\/a> the US multinational computer giant has hidden expensive fees to cancel early, as well as failing to provide clarity on terms and length of subscriptions.<\/p>\n The action has been taken by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the government agency that acts with autonomy to uphold civil antitrust laws and consumer protections. It claims Adobe has refused to change its methods for financial reasons but the company has refuted this claim, as part of a fight against the lawsuit.<\/p>\n Adobe\u2019s General Counsel and Chief Trust Officer Dana Rao stated, \u201cWe are transparent with the terms and conditions of our subscription agreements and have a simple cancellation process.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe will refute the FTC\u2019s claims in court,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n In recent days, Adobe has experienced the biggest gain in its share price for four years<\/a> after strong projections were made for the upcoming year on the back of demand for its new range of artificial intelligence-based tools.<\/p>\n At the time of writing, the share price is sitting at 518.74 USD.<\/p>\n 1. @FTC<\/a> has taken action against Adobe and two executives for pushing people into subscriptions and then making it absurdly hard to cancel. <\/p>\n Adobe ambushed users with hefty “early termination fees” and threw up obstacles when people tried to cancel.https:\/\/t.co\/lyWAv4GMm1<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Lina Khan (@linakhanFTC) June 17, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Adobe has had a subscription-based sales model in place since 2012, asking users to pay an annual or monthly fee but there has been acrimony due to ambiguity with the sign-up process and then similar frustration with cancellations.<\/p>\n When customers attempt to cancel, the company allegedly moves through a \u201cconvoluted process\u201d, requesting re-entry of their password and navigation past multiple pop-up screens.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAdobe trapped customers into year-long subscriptions through hidden early termination fees and numerous cancellation hurdles,\u201d outlined Samuel Levine, director of the FTC\u2019s Bureau of Consumer Protection.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAmericans are tired of companies hiding the ball during subscription signup and then putting up roadblocks when they try to cancel,\u201d said Levine.<\/span><\/p>\n Earlier this month, Adobe moved to clarify its terms and conditions<\/a> after users expressed outrage<\/a> when they were denied access to its products without agreeing to an updated T and C document.<\/p>\n The controversy stemmed from a provision in the document stating that Adobe could access users\u2019 content using both \u201cautomated and manual methods.\u201d<\/p>\n Image credit: Ideogram<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
\u2018Trapped customers into year-long subscriptions\u2019<\/h2>\n