New Click-To-Cancel Requirements… Welcome/Not Welcome?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its long-awaited final Negative Option Rule (the "Rule") on October 16, 2024. "Negative Options" according to the FTC are arrangements "under which the consumer's silence or failure to take affirmative action to reject a good or service or to cancel the agreement is interpreted by the negative option seller as acceptance or continuing acceptance of the offer." Such a broad definition could affect a business in just about any industry serving consumers. The FTC estimates (within its comments in the Rule) that over 106,000 businesses currently utilize negative options. In your personal life as a consumer, the Rule may be a welcome development to help manage one's subscriptions. If you are reviewing the Rule as a business owner, your compliance countdown looms and taking stock now of changes you may need to make is advisable. Some provisions of the Rule take effect 60 days after the Rule is published in the Federal Register;