Inside the squabble between Amazon and the FTC over Prime sign-ups

Hi, I'm Matt Turner, the editor in chief of business at Insider. Welcome back to Insider Weekly, a roundup of some of our top stories.

On the agenda today:

• Microsoft's former vice president of HR has a warning: HR is not your friend.

• A leaked novel is causing chaos in a beach town full of wealthy Manhattanites.

• Meet the 30 people under 40 forging a new future for the healthcare industry.

• Adam Neumann's new funding is "an embarrassment for venture capital."

But first: Eugene Kim, Insider's chief tech correspondent, is walking us through his major scoop on Amazon's squabble with the FTC.

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Inside our reporting on Amazon's Prime problem

Have you ever accidentally signed up for an online subscription and struggled to untangle yourself financially from the arrangement? I suspect the answer is yes — and the Federal Trade Commission is trying to do something about it, Insider's Eugene Kim writes.

This week, we broke the story about Amazon's request to quash the FTC's subpoenas related to an investigation into its Prime membership program. Not only do the filings offer juicy details about the tension between Amazon and the FTC, but they give a clearer picture of the FTC's Prime investigation, which we first wrote about in March.

What's at stake: Whether Amazon may have intentionally used ambiguous language and designs for its Prime sign-up and cancellation process, a tactic commonly called "dark patterns." Amazon internally worried for years that shoppers felt tricked into signing up for Prime and complained about the confusing cancellation process. Amazon's spokesperson, however, says the process is "clear and simple."

What the FTC wants: Testimony from nearly 20 of Amazon's current and former execs, including its founder, Jeff Bezos, and its CEO, Andy Jassy, and the chat log of executives who used "ephemeral messaging" apps to discuss related issues.