The United States Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Adobe alleging that the company misleads consumers by hiding the early termination fee and making it difficult for people to cancel their subscriptions.
In the complaint filed Monday, the Justice Department wrote that “Adobe has harmed consumers by enrolling them in its default, most lucrative subscription plan without clearly disclosing the important terms of the plan.”
The government says Adobe pushed consumers toward the “annual pay monthly” subscription without informing them that canceling the plan in the first year would cost hundreds of dollars.
Adobe only discloses early termination fees when subscribers try to cancel, and turns the early termination fee into a “powerful retention tool” by locking consumers into subscriptions they no longer want, the complaint says.
“During enrollment, Adobe hides the material terms of its APM plan in fine print and behind option text boxes and hyperlinks, demonstrating disclosures that are designed to fly under the radar and that most consumers never see,” according to the complaint. “Adobe then discourages cancellations by employing an onerous and complicated cancellation process.”
Adobe did not immediately respond to TechCrunch's request for comment.
The complaint says Adobe has violated federal laws designed to protect consumers. The government is seeking “injunctive relief, civil penalties, equitable monetary relief, and other measures.”
Adobe switched to a subscription model in 2012 and began requiring consumers to pay for access to the company's software on a recurring basis. In the past, users could access the company's software after paying a one-time fee. Subscriptions account for the majority of company revenue, the Federal Trade Commission notes.
