IT Home reported on December 14 that because some consumers complained that "it is very difficult to cancel Adobe's subscription service", the Federal ** Commission (FTC) of the United States has begun an investigation into Adobe.
Source: Pexels According to Adobe's regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company may face fines or other penalties as a result, so revenue may be affected. IT House translates the original text as follows:
Since June 2022, we have been working with staff at the Federal Commission on a civil investigation request seeking information on disclosures related to the Restore Shopper Confidence Act and subscription cancellation methods.In fact, this has been a hot issue for the FTC. Back in March, U.S. regulators introduced "click-to-cancel" rules that clearly spelled out what businesses should do.In November 2023, FTC staff claimed that they were ready to enter the negotiation phase to determine if a settlement could be reached on the investigation of these issues.
We believe our approach is in accordance with the law and are currently in discussions with FTC staff. The defense or resolution of this issue may involve significant fines and could have a material impact on our financial results and operations.
The FTC argues that users need a simple cancellation mechanism: if consumers can't opt out of a subscription plan at any time, then a "negative option" is just a way to continue charging for products they no longer want.
To address this, the FTC's proposed new rule requires businesses to "make it as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to start a subscription," i.e., if a user can sign up, they must be able to cancel (subscribe) on the same page and in the same steps.
In addition, the FTC requires businesses to provide users with "new requirements for reminders and acknowledgments," which simply requires sellers to send reminders to consumers before a subscription service automatically renewsTFC also requires sellers to obtain consent before marketing "additional offers" to consumers, and if sellers hear "no", it means that they must immediately cancel the follow-up process.