By GENE JOHNSON and SALLY HO, Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — A federal trial beginning in Amazon’s hometown this week is set to examine whether the online retailing giant tricked customers into signing up for its Prime service and made it difficult to cancel after they did so.

The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon in U.S. District Court in Seattle two years ago and has alleged more than a decade of legal violations, including of the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, a 2010 law designed to help ensure that people know what they’re being charged for online.

Jury selection began Monday, with opening statements to follow.

Related Articles

Seattle, a coffee haven, is watching java prices spike. Why?

Spirit Airlines to furlough 1,800 flight attendants amid second bankruptcy

Compass to buy rival brokerage operator Anywhere Real Estate for about $1.5 billion

Nvidia to invest $100 billion in OpenAI to help expand the ChatGPT maker’s computing power

Community backs Borchert’s Meat Market in Maplewood as it struggles with tax payments

Prime provides subscribers with perks that include faster shipping, video streaming and discounts at Whole Foods for a fee of $139 annually, or $14.99 a month.

It’s a key — and growing — part of Amazon’s business, with more than 200 million members. In its latest quarterly report, the company in July reported more than $12 billion in net revenue for subscription services, which is a 12% increase from the same period last year. That figure includes annual and monthly fees associated with Prime memberships, as well as other subscription services such as its music and e-books platforms.

The company said it does clearly explain Prime’s terms before charging customers, and that it offers simple ways to cancel membership, including by phone, online and by online chat.

“Occasional customer frustrations and mistakes are inevitable — especially for a program as popular as Amazon Prime,” Amazon said in a trial brief filed last week. “Evidence that a small percentage of customers misunderstood Prime enrollment or cancellation does not prove that Amazon violated the law.”

But the FTC said Amazon deliberately made it difficult for customers to purchase an item without also subscribing to Prime. In some cases, consumers were presented with a button to complete their transactions — which didn’t clearly state it would also enroll them in Prime, the agency said.

“Amazon has long known that millions of its customers struggled with enrollment and cancellation of its subscription service, Prime,” the FTC said in its trial brief. “Millions of consumers accidentally enrolled in Prime without knowledge or consent, but Amazon refused to fix this known problem, described internally by employees as an ‘unspoken cancer’ because clarity adjustments would lead to a drop in subscribers.”

Getting out of a subscription was often too complicated, and Amazon leadership slowed or rejected changes that would have made canceling easier, the complaint said.

Internally, Amazon called the process “Iliad,” a reference to the ancient Greek poem about the lengthy siege of Troy during the Trojan war. The process requires the customer to affirm on three pages their desire to cancel membership.

U.S. District Judge John Chun, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, issued an order last week affirming that the Restore Online Customers’ Confidence Act applies to Prime. He also limited some of the legal defenses Amazon may offer at trial and sided with the FTC on its claim that Amazon violated the law by collecting customers’ billing information before disclosing Prime’s terms.

But Chun said several other issues remain for the jury to decide, including whether Amazon’s disclosures of the material terms of Prime membership are “clear and conspicuous” and whether the “Illiad” cancellation method is “simple,” as the law requires.

Chun also ruled that two Amazon executives named as individual defendants — Neil Lindsay and Jamil Ghani — were so entwined with the Prime program that they will personally face liability if the jury sides with the FTC. A third, Russell Grandinetti, could also potentially face personal liability if the jury so decides.

Amazon said a statement Monday: “The bottom line is that neither Amazon nor the individual defendants did anything wrong — we remain confident that the facts will show these executives acted properly and we always put customers first.”

The FTC, which declined to comment Monday, began looking into Amazon’s Prime subscription practices in 2021 during the first Trump administration, but the lawsuit was filed in 2023 under former FTC Chair Lina Khan, an antitrust expert who had been appointed by Biden.

The agency filed the case months before it submitted an antitrust lawsuit against the retail and technology company, accusing it of having monopolistic control over online markets.

In July, Chun admonished Amazon for withholding 70,000 documents from the FTC, including documents improperly marked as containing internal legal advice, saying that conduct was “tantamount to bad faith.”

Meanwhile, like other tech companies, Amazon has been attempting to forge friendlier ties with President Donald Trump, who repeatedly criticized the company during his first term.

In December, Amazon donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, along with other tech leaders, was also a guest at the inauguration.

Earlier this year, Amazon’s Prime Video service began streaming “The Apprentice,” the long-running TV show that boosted Trump’s profile before he ran for president. The company is also working on a documentary that offers an “unprecedented behind-the-scenes look” into the life of first lady Melania Trump.

By JOSH FUNK, AP Transportation Writer

The Trump Administration wants to redistribute $2.4 billion it pulled from California’s high-speed rail project as part of a new $5 billion program announced Monday to fund rail projects to boost passenger rail traffic nationwide.

Related Articles

White House backs ‘border czar’ after reports he accepted cash during undercover FBI probe last year

Federal judge lifts Trump administration’s halt of nearly complete offshore wind farm in New England

Supreme Court will weigh expanding Trump’s power to shape agencies by overturning 90-year-old ruling

As AI enters exam rooms, states step up oversight

Projected surge in uninsured will strain local health systems

The new program’s rules for states and others wanting to participate remove any mention of diversity or climate change dating to the Biden administration. The new program will also put a priority on projects in areas with higher rates of birth and marriage and projects that improve safety at railroad crossings.

The Trump Administration has removed climate change and so-called DEI language from other grant requirements, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took a jab at that Biden-era language and California Gov. Gain Newsom’s rail project in his announcement.

“Our new National Railroad Partnership Program will emphasize safety – our number one priority – without the radical … DEI and green grant requirements. Instead of wasting dollars on Governor Newsom’s high-speed rail boondoggle, these targeted investments will improve the lives of rail passengers, local drivers, and pedestrians,” Duffy said.

The biggest chunk of this money the Federal Railroad Administration announced comes from the $4 billion that was pulled from the California project. The rest of the money comes from a combination of what was announced last year and what is in this year’s budget.

President Donald Trump and Duffy have both criticized the decades-old California project for its cost overruns and many delays that have kept the train that’s designed to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles from becoming a reality yet.

California officials said they will fight this effort to redistribute money they believe should be going to their project. They had already filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to pull federal funding from the state’s high-speed rail project

“The FRA’s decision to terminate federal funding for California high-speed rail was unlawful, unwarranted, and is being challenged in federal court. Now, their attempt to redirect a portion of that funding, currently the subject of litigation, is premature,” said Micah Flores, a spokesman for the California High-Speed Rail Authority. “The Authority has been prepared for this possibility and will take imminent legal action to block this misguided effort by the FRA.”

FILE – The Tied Arch Bridge construction site, which will take high-speed trains over State Route 43, April 15, 2025, in Fresno County, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File)

The focus on areas with higher birth and marriage rates reflects Trump’s executive orders that make spending that benefits American families a priority in his administration, according to an FRA spokesman.

The Federal Railroad Administration said railroad crossings are important to address because more than 200 people a year are killed when trains collide with vehicles or pedestrians at crossings. That has long been something the government and railroads work to address but it is costly to build bridges or underpasses that allow cars to safely bypass the tracks.

Even though the money is targeted toward improving passenger rail, some of it will almost certainly go to improvements on the nation’s major freight railroads because Amtrak uses their tracks for most of its long-distance routes across the country.

The administration also said it would give priority to projects that improve the traveling experience for families by adding amenities like nursing mothers’ rooms, expanded waiting areas and children’s play areas in train stations.

Applications for this money are due by January 7.

Associated Press writer Sophie Austin contributed to this report from Sacramento, California.

By RIO YAMAT, Associated Press

Spirit Airlines plans to furlough 1,800 flight attendants before the end of the year, the cash-strapped budget carrier said Monday.

The company said it made the “difficult decision” to put cabin crew members on temporary leave to match staffing needs with expected flight demand during Spirit’s second bankruptcy in a year.

“We recognize the impact of this decision on affected team members, and we are committed to treating them with care and respect during this process,” the airline said in a statement.

Spirit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month and subsequently announced that it planned to suspend operations in about a dozen U.S. cities beginning in October.

The union that represents the airline’s flight attendants said Monday that Spirit would seek candidates willing to take six month or one year voluntary furloughs starting Nov. 1 before moving forward with involuntary furloughs based on seniority effective Dec. 1.

Related Articles

Rivals Compass and Anywhere Real Estate to combine in deal valued at $10 billion including debt

Nvidia to invest $100 billion in OpenAI to help expand the ChatGPT maker’s computing power

Community backs Borchert’s Meat Market in Maplewood as it struggles with tax payments

Trump’s Federal Reserve appointee seeks steeper rate cuts

Google faces antitrust déjà vu as US seeks to break up its digital advertising business

The Association of Flight Attendants said it was working to secure “preferential interviews” with other airlines for furloughed flight attendants.

In a letter sent Monday to its members, the union said that while it initially succeeded in staving off furloughs as Spirit tries to slash costs, “the problem is that the significant reduction of aircraft and flight hours requires a much higher reduction in force.”

Spirit, which is based in Florida, says it is ending services in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Birmingham, Alabama; Boise, Idaho; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Columbia, South Carolina; Portland; and Salt Lake City. It is also suspending operations in the California cities of Sacramento, Oakland, San Diego and San Jose.

Known for its bright yellow planes and no-frills service, Spirit has had a rough ride since the COVID-19 pandemic, struggling to rebound amid rising operation costs and its mounting debt. By the time of its first Chapter 11 filing last November, Spirit had lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020.

The airline also instituted furloughs and job cuts before filing for bankruptcy last year.

The company’s cost-cutting efforts continued after it emerged from bankruptcy protection in March, including plans to furlough about 270 pilots and downgrade some 140 captains to first officers in the coming months.

Those changes, which are set to take effect on Oct. 1 and Nov. 1, were also tied to expected flight demand in 2026, the company has said.

Spirit has said it was considering selling off certain aircraft and real estate. Its fleet is relatively young, making the airline an attractive target. But buyout attempts from budget rivals like JetBlue and Frontier were unsuccessful both before and during Spirt’s first bankruptcy process.

When it comes to the Gophers’ fiercest rivals, Wisconsin and Iowa are in a league of their own. But recent matchups suggest Rutgers — of all Big Ten programs — can stake a current claim in that otherwise Midwestern club.

The two program have only played four total times, all since 2016, yet Rutgers and Minnesota have a juicy narrative from an intertwined cast of characters.

Fifth-year senior quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, who transferred from the U to Rutgers after the 2023 season, threw three touchdown passes in a 26-19 win over the Gophers in Piscataway, N.J. last November. And Kaliakmanis did it under former Gophers’ and current Rutgers’ offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca.

Now, Rutgers comes to Huntington Bank Stadium for the Gophers’ Big Ten opener Saturday morning, and the upshot is how the Scarlet Knights have returned to defensive coordinator, Robb Smith, whom P.J. Fleck fired from that role at the U midway through the 2018 season.

On Monday morning, the first question the Gophers head coach faced in his weekly news conference centered on Kaliakmanis’ return.

“Listen, this is Rutgers and Minnesota,” Fleck said. “Got a lot of respect for what they do and how they do it. He’s playing really well. This is, I think, his fifth year in that type of same system. You’d expect to see that type of growth that he has shown. … (He’s) playing at a high level.”

Fleck’s comment appeared to be a rather innocuous deflection containing a compliment. But Kaliakmanis’ father was clearly watching Fleck’s presser and decided to interject before noon.

“Correction,” Alex Kaliakmanis wrote on X, tagging Fleck’s account. “Going on 3 years in System, not 5.”

Alex Kaliakmanis then ticked through how his son played at Minnesota as a true freshman under then-offensive coordinator Mike Sanford in 2021, followed by Ciarrocca in 2022 and Greg Harbaugh in 2023 before transfering to Rutgers and reuniting with Ciarrocca the past two years.

Alex Kaliakmanis also clapped back in Nov. 2023 after it became known Fleck was going to bring in a transfer quarterback to compete in the 2024 season. That, of course, became Max Brosmer from New Hampshire (who incidentally made his NFL debut Sunday in the Vikings’ 48-10 victory over Cincinnati).

“Trying very hard not to comment on a program that our family decided to cut ties with,” Alex then wrote on X. “But want to set the record straight and will start with this. Competition with a mythical inbound QB was absolutely not a factor in entering the transfer portal.”

After Rutgers’ win over Brosmer and the Gophers last year, Kaliakmanis said he just wanted a “fresh start.”

And once the final whistle sounded, Fleck and a long stream of Gophers players greeted Kaliakmanis on the field.

“(Fleck) told me he was happy for me,” Kaliakmanis told the Pioneer Press at the time. “… I’m really happy for him, too. I had a great relationship with him for three years.”

Against the Gophers last November, Kaliakmanis started hot, with two touchdown passes and 216 yards (along with an interception) as Rutgers took a halftime lead. But Minnesota brought more blitzes in the second half, and Kaliakmanis managed only 24 passing yards after halftime.

Yet after a brutal Gophers fumble in the shadow of their own goalposts, Kaliakmanis threw his third touchdown pass of the game — the eventual game-winner.

Fleck is right; Kaliakmanis is playing his best football right now. The redshirt senior is 10th in the nation with 1,150 passing yards and his passer rating of 162.9 is 26th in the country.

Fleck also complimented how “efficient” Ciarrocca and Kaliakmanis have been while conducting the Knights’ offense. That includes Ciarrocca’s bread-and-butter RPO (run/pass option) scheme, which led to Kaliakmanis scoring two rushing touchdowns in a 38-28 home loss to Iowa on Friday.

Kaliakmanis was on fire early against the Hawkeyes but cooled off in the second half as Iowa ratcheted up the pressure. In the fourth quarter, the Hawkeyes brought five pass rushers and hit Kaliakmanis when he threw a fourth-quarter interception — his first of the season. Iowa then scored the game-sealing touchdown six plays later.

Last year, Rutgers and head coach Greg Schiano, a Fleck mentor, had a bye going into the Minnesota game. This year, the Gophers have the extra week to prepare. Making Kaliakmanis uncomfortable figures to be a big part of the game plan.

Related Articles

Q&A: Gophers AD Mark Coyle on budget deficit, revenue sharing and Big Ten expansion

Gophers football: One big missed call looms over Cal loss

Gophers football: Koi Perich must ‘swallow the pill of adversity’

Miscues doom Gophers in 27-14 loss to California

Gophers tailback Darius Taylor ruled out for Cal game