LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) – Britain’s competition regulator has launched an investigation into Photoshop maker Adobe to examine whether its early cancellation fees were unfair and misleading, the watchdog said on Thursday.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will look at whether customers are given “clear and timely information upfront” about early cancellation fees, which are likely to influence their decision to purchase the product, it said.
Adobe’s products, such as Photoshop, Illustrator and Adobe Premiere, are widely used by consumers to create and edit content such as photographs and videos.
“From students to content creators, millions of people rely on digital design tools – and they should feel confident that businesses selling these services play by the rules,” Emma Cochrane, the CMA’s Executive Director for Consumer Protection, said in the statement.
The probe comes less than a week after Adobe reached a $150 million settlement to resolve a U.S. government lawsuit accusing it of harming consumers by concealing hefty termination fees and making it difficult to cancel subscriptions.
In its response to that order on Friday, Adobe said it has in recent years streamlined its sign-up and cancellation processes and made them more transparent.
The company did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment on the British regulatory action.
At this stage, the British watchdog has reached no conclusions about whether Adobe has broken the law, it noted in its statement, adding that Adobe was the ninth business it was investigating using its new direct consumer enforcement powers.
The powers allow the CMA to determine whether consumer law has been breached – rather than going through the courts – and take action where wrongdoing is found, including securing consumer redress and imposing fines on companies where appropriate.
(Reporting by Muvija M; Editing by Catarina Demony)
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