FTC sues Adobe for allegedly hiding fees, making it tough to cancel subscriptions

The Federal Trade Commission sued Adobe and two of its executives Thursday, claiming the Photoshop maker hides early termination fees on its most popular subscription and makes it difficult for customers to cancel.

The federal regulator said in its complaint that Adobe does not adequately disclose the fees, which are calculated as 50% of the remaining payments when customers cancel in their first year. According to the FTC, those fees can reach hundreds of dollars.

The FTC also said Adobe forces subscribers who want to cancel online to navigate unnecessarily through numerous pages, while those canceling by phone are often disconnected, are forced to repeat themselves to multiple representatives, and encounter "resistance and delay" from those representatives.

The regulator noted in a press release that Adobe switched primarily to a subscription model for its products after 2012, and most of the company's revenue now comes from subscriptions.