Group wants probe of Amazon over Prime

A coalition of public interest advocates is asking U.S. regulators to investigate whether Amazon.com Inc. violates consumer protection laws with its process for canceling Prime subscriptions.

In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday, a group led by Public Citizen said the steps required to cancel Prime “are designed to unfairly and deceptively undermine the will of the consumer” and may violate FTC rules as well as other consumer protection laws. The letter draws on a complaint by Norway’s consumer protection agency, which asked Norwegian regulators Thursday to determine whether Amazon violated local law.

A spokesperson for the FTC didn’t immediately comment, and Amazon didn’t reply to an email seeking comment. Prime, which costs $119 a year in the U.S., has been a major catalyst for Amazon’s growth into the world’s largest online retailer.

Amazon’s market power is already the subject of a congressional antitrust investigation, as well as probes by the FTC and the European Commission.