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Got ‘Tricked’ Into an Amazon Prime Subscription? You Could Be Owed Part of $2.5 Billion

Learn who qualifies for the Amazon FTC settlement and how much money you might receive.

If you’ve ever clicked a button on Amazon and accidentally signed up for Prime, or felt like you needed a map to find the cancellation page, you aren’t crazy. You were being played. The Federal Trade Commission just validated your frustration by hitting Amazon with a historic $2.5 billion settlement over its deceptive subscription tactics.

This isn’t just a slap on the wrist; it’s a massive payout. A whopping $1.5 billion is earmarked to refund eligible subscribers, with the rest serving as a civil penalty. Amazon is now legally required to stop the games, meaning they have to give you a clear, obvious option to decline Prime and make leaving the service as easy as joining.

Of course, Amazon isn’t admitting to any shady behavior. “Amazon and our executives have always followed the law, and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers,” Mark Blafkin, Amazon senior manager, said in a statement. “We work incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up or cancel their Prime membership, and to offer substantial value for our many millions of loyal Prime members around the world.”


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Why did the FTC file a lawsuit against Amazon?

The FTC filed suit against Amazon accused the company of using “dark patterns” to nudge people into Prime subscriptions and then making it too hard to cancel. The FTC maintained Amazon was in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act. 

“Specifically, Amazon used manipulative, coercive or deceptive user-interface designs known as ‘dark patterns’ to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions,” the FTC complaint states.

Who’s eligible for Amazon’s payout?

Amazon’s legal settlement is limited to customers who enrolled in Amazon Prime between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025. It’s also restricted to customers who subscribed to Prime using a “challenged enrollment flow” or who enrolled in Prime through any method but were unsuccessful in canceling their memberships.

The FTC called out specific enrollment pages, including Prime Video enrollment, the Universal Prime Decision page, the Shipping Option Select page and the Single Page Checkout. To qualify for a payout, claimants must also not have used more than 10 Amazon Prime benefits in any 12-month period.

Customers who signed up via those challenged processes and did not use more than three Prime benefits within one year will be paid automatically by Amazon within 90 days. Other eligible Amazon customers will need to file a claim, and Amazon is required to send notices to those people within 30 days of making its automatic payments.

Customers who did not use a challenged sign-up process but instead were unable to cancel their memberships will also need to file claims for payment.

How big will the Amazon payments be?

Payouts to eligible Amazon claimants will be limited to a maximum of $51. That amount could be reduced depending on the number of Amazon Prime benefits you used while subscribed to the service. Those benefits include free two-day shipping, watching shows or movies on Prime Video or Whole Foods grocery discounts. 

Customers who qualify for the payments should receive them by Dec. 24.Customers outside the US aren’t eligible for the payout.

Technologies

Passengers and crew foil co-pilot’s apparent attempt to crash FlyDubai flight to Israel

One of the pilots on a FlyDubai flight headed for Israel stabbed the second pilot, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On-duty flight crew and passengers managed to foil a pilot’s apparent attempt to crash a FlyDubai flight, after reports emerged of a fight in the cockpit.

The incident on flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv happened when a co-pilot stabbed a pilot, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who praised the victim’s quick thinking.

“Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster. He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals,” Netanyahu wrote in a post on X.

FZ1073 was diverted to the Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia, the airline said, after being successfully secured and diverted by flight crew.

FlyDubai in a statement said that an “altercation” occurred on the flight deck of the plane, but did not mention a stabbing.

However, the airline added that the underlying reasons and motives for the clash is currently unknown, urging all parties to refrain from speculation.

The injured pilot was identified by Netanyahu as Indian national Smit Machchhar. No details have been released on the identity of the attacker, except that he was being interrogated by Saudi authorities.

The Indian embassy in Riyadh said on X that Machchhar is in a hospital in Tabuk, and is reported to be in stable condition.

The Israeli Prime Minister also identified the passenger who broke into the cockpit as Yaniv Hayun, calling him a “hero” and adding he deserved “a global medal of honor.”

Flight data from tracking site FlightRadar24 showed that the plane had experienced extreme altitude fluctuations before broadcasting a “general emergency” squawk code.

FZ1073 had dropped from over 14,000 feet in just 29 seconds, and FlightRadar24 also added that vertical speeds ranging from approximately -30,000 to +10,000 feet per minute were observed from the transponder data.

For context, vertical speeds during normal operations rarely exceed plus or minus 4,000 feet per minute, it added.

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Technologies

South Korean President Lee resists Alaska LNG project after Trump highlights Seoul’s involvement

South Korean President Lee Jae‑myung has conditioned his country’s participation in the Alaska LNG project on financial viability and legal compliance, pushing back against President Trump’s push for the $50‑billion venture while other $200‑billion U.S. investments move forward.

South Korea’s $200 billion investment in the United States, which President Donald Trump said would transform America “for generations,” is not yet finalized in full.

The South Korean investment blueprint includes nuclear power plants, a natural‑gas power facility in Texas, and potentially the long‑planned Alaska liquefied natural gas project.

Trump posted on Truth Social late Wednesday that the two nations had agreed to move forward on the Alaska LNG venture, estimating its value at $50 billion. This prompted a response from South Korean President Lee Jae‑myung, who stressed that participation in some projects remains tied to commercial considerations.

In an X post Thursday local time, Lee said that involvement in the Alaska LNG project hinges on its financial viability and legal compliance. He added that investments in nuclear power plants would also require a plant‑by‑plant assessment of commercial feasibility.

The US‑South Korea joint statement Wednesday also noted that work on the project is contingent on “commercial reasonableness,” without detailing allocations toward the venture.

The Alaska LNG project aims to move natural gas roughly 1,300 km (800 miles) from fields on Alaska’s North Slope to the state’s southern region, where it would be liquefied for export to markets including Asia, according to Yonhap. The initiative has long faced scrutiny over its economics, given the substantial upfront capital required.

Industry Minister Kim Jung‑kwan labeled it “high‑risk” last year and said participation would be challenging unless the project could generate sufficient cash flow.

Overall, the investment package allocates $22.3 billion for a 6,472‑megawatt natural‑gas power plant in Encinal, Texas, which will supply electricity to nearby data centers. The venture will be led by developer Related Cos. and U.S. power provider NextEra Energy.

Trump said the investments would turn South Korea’s commitments into “huge construction projects” and create “tens of thousands of American jobs.”

“These are massive energy projects, adding power capacity in the United States,” Trump remarked. “This is new construction, new manufacturing, and great jobs for American workers.”

The two countries said they would seek to broaden Korean firms’ involvement in the Texas project across equipment supply, engineering, construction, and long‑term operations and maintenance. The U.S. also plans to give Korean companies opportunities to supply equipment, including turbines, for similar projects domestically.

Another $120 billion has been earmarked for plans to build eight large‑scale nuclear reactors in the United States. Of that sum, $100 billion is designated for construction costs and $20 billion for contingency reserves.

The nuclear accord was signed by both governments as well as Westinghouse Electric, Korea Electric Power Corp., and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. The plan also calls for Korean firms to pursue a potential significant minority stake in Westinghouse, with terms subject to commercial negotiations.

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Technologies

Washington’s big crypto bill is stuck. The SEC is pushing ahead anyway

The SEC has proposed new rules that would make it easier for investment advisers and regulated funds to hold cryptocurrencies on behalf of clients.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new rules that would make it easier for investment advisers and regulated funds to hold cryptocurrencies on behalf of clients, as U.S. regulators push ahead with writing crypto rules after a sweeping legislation stalled in Congress.

The proposal, announced Thursday stateside, would establish a tailored framework governing how registered investment advisers, investment companies and business development companies hold custody of crypto assets.

The changes are aimed at modernizing decades-old custody requirements and removing regulatory barriers that the SEC says have limited advisers’ ability to offer crypto-related investments.

Under the proposed rules, crypto assets could be held in self-custody under “certain circumstances,” while state trust companies could also serve as custodians for crypto assets belonging to clients and regulated funds.

The changes could also give regulated funds greater scope to offer investors crypto-related investment strategies, according to the SEC.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said existing regulations had failed to keep pace with the rapid expansion of digital assets, which have grown into a multi-trillion-dollar market.

“Today’s proposal would provide a clear regulatory framework for the custody of crypto assets, giving investment advisers and funds a compliant pathway where none existed before,” Atkins said.

The proposal comes as U.S. regulators push ahead with building out a crypto rulebook under their existing authority after the Clarity Act, a sweeping crypto market structure bill, stalled in the Senate in September.

That marks another step in the SEC’s broader effort to rewrite the U.S. regulatory framework for digital assets under Atkins, and will be open for public comment for 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register.

With broader crypto legislation stalling in Congress, regulators are exerting their existing powers to address individual parts of the market, said Jeff Ko, chief analyst at blockchain infrastructure service provider ViaBTC.

“What we’re increasingly seeing is the SEC using the authority it already has to solve individual bottlenecks one by one, issuance, tokenization, trading exemptions and now custody,” he told CNBC via email.

The regulatory push also comes as crypto markets show signs of renewed momentum following a volatile start to the year. Bitcoin has rebounded over 40% from its July low, as improving risk appetite have helped revive demand for digital assets.

The recovery follows a prolonged downturn from late 2025 into the first half of 2026.

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