When Amazon started showing ads to its Prime Video subscribers, annoyed TV viewers complained to the consumer watchdog. Now the case is headed for the Federal Court – and already attracting international interest.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accused Amazon Australia of breaching Australian consumer law by “making negative changes” to contract terms for Prime subscriptions, which then affected more than 850,000 people when Amazon introduced advertising to Prime Video.

Amazon Prime Video is Australia’s second most popular streaming service, only behind Netflix.

The ACCC says Amazon US was also “knowingly concerned” in what happened in Australia.

This court case is part of a campaign by the ACCC to enforce the protections in the Australian Consumer Law against big companies – such as Amazon, Coles and Woolworths – involving individually small, but widespread, losses to consumers. Just last month, the ACCC launched a separate court case against Amazon for allegedly unsafe children’s backpacks.

The ACCC is increasingly testing the boundaries of what it can enforce under Australian Consumer Law. But what exactly does that law say on this issue – and what defence might Amazon have?

What’s the ACCC alleging?

The ACCC alleges that between........

© The Conversation