Good things are happening! The Feds want to help cancel your unwanted subscriptions, the EPA’s new emission rule gets the green light, Biden moves to make birth control free, and permits for a pipeline in Tennessee get paused.
Clicking Into Cancel Culture
When it comes to consumer protection, cancel culture is here to stay. Under the aggressive leadership of Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission has finalized a “click-to-cancel” rule that will require companies to make it as easy to cancel enrollment in their services as it is to sign up.
The rule, finalized on Oct. 16, applies to almost all negative option plans, which is when companies interpret a customer’s failure to take action on rejecting an offer or canceling an agreement as permission to be charged for future goods or services. The rule could govern a range of industry practices in which consumers have been known to spend hours talking on the phone to a customer service robot to cancel subscriptions to offerings like gym memberships and streaming services. On average, Americans spend $273 on wanted and unwanted subscriptions per month, according to research by consulting firm West Monroe.
The rule will take effect within...
