CASE FILES / FTC v. AMAZON
$2.5B SETTLEDWED 21 OCT 2026 · 3:36 · LONG-FORM

Canceling Amazon Prime

Amazon agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle the FTC's case over Prime. According to the FTC, joining took one or two clicks, and leaving took four pages, six clicks and fifteen options, through a cancellation flow Amazon called Iliad. The full case file, from the public record: what the FTC alleged, the one thing a judge ruled, how it settled, and who gets paid.

Canceling Amazon Prime: the full case file3:36
6 clicks

and four pages to cancel, the FTC alleged. One or two clicks to join.

FTC AMENDED COMPLAINT, PARA. 128, P. 47
$2.5B

Amazon's settlement: a $1 billion penalty and $1.5 billion in refunds.

FTC, 25 SEP 2025
1 ruling

Billing details came before Prime's terms. The way out was never decided.

ORDER OF 17 SEP 2025, PP. 22 TO 23
The record

The documents. Every number points to a page.

FTC amended complaint, 20 Sep 2023, FTC v. Amazon.com, Inc., No. 2:23-cv-00932-JHC (W.D. Wash.)PARAGRAPHS 7, 128 TO 156, 187, 214 TO 217
Open
Order on summary judgment, 17 Sep 2025, as published by Courthouse NewsPAGES 9 TO 14, 21 TO 28
Open
FTC, the settlement, 25 Sep 2025PRESS RELEASE
Open
FTC, additional payments, 17 Sep 2026PRESS RELEASE
Open

What the record is. The click counts, the Iliad flow and the internal documents are allegations in the FTC's amended complaint; Amazon disputed them. The one ruling is the court's order of 17 September 2025: collecting billing information before showing Prime's key terms violated ROSCA, the federal law on online subscriptions. Whether the cancellation flow was simple was never decided, because the case settled.

NumberWhat it isWhere
1 to 2Clicks to join Prime. An allegationComplaint para. 128
4 / 6 / 15Pages, clicks and options to cancel on desktop. An allegationComplaint paras. 128, 154
$1BCivil penalty, the largest in an FTC rule case, per the FTCFTC, 25 Sep 2025
$1.5BRefunds, for an estimated 35 million consumersFTC, 25 Sep 2025
$51 to $200Refund cap, raised with court approval; over $845M paidFTC, 17 Sep 2026
Spot something wrong?Tell us and we'll check it against the record. Corrections are posted here, with the date. None so far.
Email a correction
Your turn

See it for yourself.

Open the documents above. Every number in the video points to its page.

Subscribe for the next file
PREVIOUS CASEApple's 27% link fee
NEXTGoogle's 20% ad exchange cut