Amazon owner Jeff Bezos and CEO Andy Jassy MUST testify for FTC probe

Amazon.com’s founder and chief executive will both be forced to forced to address allegations scammed customers into signing up for its Prime service, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Wednesday — or face federal action.

The announcement comes as the government watchdog continues to probe claims Amazon illegally pushed its premiere membership program on users, and locked them in without providing easy ways to cancel its recurring charges.

Now, Jeff Bezos and his chief lieutenant Andy Jassy will have to address those allegations no later than October 7, the agency said, www.solitaryisle.shop quashing efforts by the online seller that the pair be excused from testifying in the federal case. 

The company last month asked the FTC to cancel subpoenas issued to the Bezos — who isworth a reported $145billion — and his successor Jassy, who replaced him as CEO a little over a year ago.

At the time, Amazon argued the high-powered pair were not privy to the details of Prime’s sign-up and cancellation processes — the investigation’s primary focus.

Bezos, who is rumored to be in talks with the Phoenix Suns to purchase the NBA team, was seen schmoozing with NFL Commissioner Robert Goodell at last weeks Chiefs-Chargers game in Kansas City, after Amazon secured the rights to to exclusively stream games outside of local broadcast networks to Prime members.

The FTC’s staff launched the sprawling probe in March 2021, examining whether the company deceived customers with a predatory marketing strategy and purposely hard-to-navigate interface that made it difficult to cancel its Prime service.

It has even sought information on whether Amazon execs used ‘ephemeral messaging’ — a feature seen in apps such as Signal and Telegram that automatically deletes messages once sent — to secretly discuss enrollment practices. 

A membership for Prime, which provides users perks such as free delivery on products and access to its expansive Prime Video library, costs  $14.99 per month, or $139 if users pony up the cash for a full year.

A Prime Video membership by itself runs members $8.99 per month. 

On Wednesday, the FTC’s staff ruled both Bezos, 58, and 54-year-old Jassy must comply with the investigative demand, while also ordering Amazon comply with a June investigative demand that sought information about other subscription programs Amazon runs, such as its ‘Subscribe and Save’ service.

Amazon had pushed back against that request as well, arguing that it was too burdensome and exhaustive, concerning the objectives of the current investigation.

At the time, a rep for the company wrote that both Bezos’ and Jassy’s summons ‘serve no other purpose than to harass Amazon’s highest-ranking executives and disrupt its business operations.’ 

A spokesman for Amazon further said the company has cooperated with the FTC amid the probe, already forking over tens of thousands of pages of classified internal documents.

‘We remain concerned that the latest requests are overly broad and needlessly burdensome, and we will explore all our options,’ the company said Wednesday.

The rep added that the company was ‘disappointed but unsurprised that the FTC largely declined to rule against itself.’ 

Wednesday’s order rebuffing Amazon’s request was penned by Republican Commissioner Christine Wilson. 

According to the commission’s rules, Amazon will have the right to appeal the decision to its five-members to limit — or even nix — the agency’s almost unanimous decision.

Concerning a potential appeal, Amazon wrote in its Wednesday statement that ‘we will explore all our options.’ 

 ‘We’re disappointed but unsurprised the FTC largely declined to rule against itself, but we’re pleased that the agency walked backed its broadest requests and will allow witnesses to choose their own counsel,’ a spokesperson told DailyMail.com in an email.

‘Amazon has cooperated with the FTC throughout the investigation and already produced tens of thousands of pages of documents. 

‘We are committed to engaging constructively with FTC staff, but we remain concerned that the latest requests are overly broad and needlessly burdensome, and we will explore all our options.’

The commission’s three Democrats also signed off on Wilson’s order, with the FTC’s only other Republican member, Noah Phillips, recusing himself on the matter.

FTC Chair Lina Khan, the most progressive of the FTC’s Democrats, has criticized Amazon and other tech companies in the past, spurring the online seller to call for the official to be recused from the probe — a request the commission also denied.

Khan, who teaches at Columbia Law School, is one of the US most prominent antitrust thinkers, and has long pushed for tougher antitrust laws or at least tougher enforcement of existing law. 

The FTC has declined to comment on the still ongoing investigation.  

The recent decision comes amid burgeoning tensions between Amazon and the FTC, which under Chair Khan has looked to crack down on the sometimes innocuous regulations set on Big Tech.

It further reveals the depth of the FTC’s investigation, which has expanded to cover now nearly a half-dozen Amazon services — including audio book program Audible, Amazon Music, Kindle Unlimited, and Subscribe & Save — a service where users can sign up for deliveries using a subscription-based model.

The service will automatically charges users on a weekly and monthly basis -such is the pay structure for other services provided by the company and are now under scrutiny.

Amazon will have the option to appeal the decision, but will have to address the FTC’s order by October 7.Both Bezos and Jassy have yet to comment on the agency’s allegations. The investigation is still ongoing.