united-states
how strong is the legal status of such fees as of today?
There is no all or nothing answer to this question. Early termination fees aren't categorically illegal. Sometimes they are allowed and sometimes they aren't.
Also, the issue in the FTC v. Adobe case mentioned in the question, about whether the early termination fees were actually disclosed, is a separate issue which goes to whether these fees were even part of the contract between the parties, and whether the disclosure conforms to the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA) which, basically:
prohibits any post-transaction third party seller (a seller who
markets goods or services online through an initial merchant after a
consumer has initiated a transaction with that merchant) from charging
any financial account in an Internet transaction unless it has
disclosed clearly all material terms of the transaction and obtained
the consumer's express informed consent to the charge. The seller must
obtain the number of the account to be charged directly from the
consumer.
The requirement to "clearly disclose" and to obtain "express informed consent" for a charge is a somewhat higher standard of agreement than mere contractual agreement.
Usually, the validity of these fees comes down to how easy it is to determine damages after the fact in the case of an early termination, and how big the fee is (i.e. whether it is a reasonable estimate of the harm to the company whose services were terminated early).
The basic legal issue, apart from FTC regulation and consumer protection statutes, is the common law distinction between a "liquidated damages clause" which is legal as long as it is adequately disclosed and agreed to in contract language, and a "penalty" which is void as contrary to public policy.
A liquidated damages clause is valid if the actual damages are difficult to determine with certainty and the liquidated damages amount is a reasonable estimate of what the damages are likely to be based upon what is known before the event triggering the liquidated damages payment occurs.
If the fixed dollar amount payment does not meet those standards, then it is a void penalty and unenforceable.
This distinction is laid out in the Restatement of Contracts, the current version of which is the second edition, which is an academic summary of the common law case law rules of contracts law, spelled out in statutory form, which states in the pertinent part:
The Second Restatement of Contracts, Section 356 states:
(1) Damages for breach by either party may be liquidated in the
agreement but only at an amount that is reasonable in the light of the
anticipated or actual loss caused by the breach and the difficulties
of proof of loss. A term fixing unreasonably large liquidated damages
is unenforceable on grounds of public policy as a penalty.
The Federal Trade Commission and state consumer protection statutes, often provide additional protections or clarification in specific situations.
Specific questions:
- Chargebacks. Right now, the fee will likely hold. If the FTC wins their case, will such chargebacks likely succeed?
A chargeback isn't inherently more valid or less valid than a lawsuit to collect them (apart from the scope of ROSCA requirements), although a charge back puts the burden of bringing a lawsuit to change the status quo on the early terminating customer, while a lawsuit puts the burden of bringing the lawsuit on the firm. (And, while I say "lawsuit", a large share of these cases are subject to mandatory consumer arbitration clauses.)
Since the amount in dispute is often modest, the cost of bringing a lawsuit weighs heavily in the decision over whether it makes sense to litigate the issue. Usually it is only efficient for a consumer to sue in the context of a class action lawsuit, and that option is short circuited when there is an arbitration clause that prohibits class action arbitration.
Something like FTC enforcement is important, because a regulatory agency enforcement actions is an alternative to a class action lawsuit that can also be an efficient way to enforce consumer rights.
- No-credit payment methods. Have any lawsuits to collect early termination fees been brought to court, and have any succeeded?
There are cases where companies have sued to collect early termination fees in court and won. Mostly, those are cases where the early termination fees are found to be valid liquidated damages clauses. When the firm suing to collect early termination fees loses, they are called penalty clauses. There are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of appellate court cases address these issues, and they are decided on a case by case basis.
- Business dissolution. Property leases have to be settled for that. Do service subscriptions similarly count as outstanding obligations,
which would prevent a voluntary closure?
I can't tell what is being asked here. A dissolving business doesn't have to stay in business, it can pay money damages from whatever assets it may have instead. And, if it is a limited liability entity, the money damages that can be collected from it can't be collected from anything other than the company's assets unless the contract is guaranteed by someone else.
In a Chapter 11 business reorganization bankruptcy, the company has a choice between honoring and being bound by "executory contracts" (i.e. contracts for which at least some performance is due in the future), or abandoning the contracts and paying any money damages that result from doing so as a claim in the bankruptcy. This choice must be made by a statutory deadline.
- Business bankruptcy. Where would the Provider's priority be - do ETF clauses qualify as fines, penalties and forfeitures with priority
2(d), or does that only apply to fines and penalties as opposed to
"fees"?
In a business bankruptcy, something that is a penalty at common law, is just void and unenforceable, not a debt at all. A "fine, penalty, or forfeiture" within the meaning of the priority statute of Title 11 of the United States Code (i.e. the Bankruptcy Code) refers to governmentally imposed fines, penalties, or forfeitures.
