EPIC Joins Coalition Comment to FTC Supporting Swift Restoration of Click-to-Cancel Protections

Last week, EPIC joined 15 other civil society organizations in a comment supporting the FTC’s efforts to modernize the Negative Option Rule and urging the Commission to move swiftly to crack down on harmful subscription practices. 

Updates to the Negative Option Rule—which would make it easy for consumers to “click to cancel” unwanted subscriptions—are needed to crack down on predatory business practices that trap people into buying products or services with perpetually recurring charges. 

The FTC previously adopted a click-to-cancel rule in 2024, but it was vacated last year by the Eighth Circuit—not because of any issue with the rule’s substance, but rather due to an alleged procedural defect with its adoption. Since then, EPIC has continuously urged the FTC to take up the issue again. 

Last month, the FTC at last issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and request for public comment on the need for amendments to the old Negative Option Rule. The coalition letter responds to that request. We encourage the FTC to move swiftly towards proposing a robust rule that mandates easy and hassle-free click-to-cancel practices across industries. This would finally end the “subscription cancellation hell” American consumers have had to contend with in recent years.