Advocacy groups urge the eighth circuit to uphold FTC’s click to cancel rule
Five Groups led by Berkeley Law File an Amicus Brief in the Legal Challenge to the FTC’s Click to Cancel Rule.
Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829
Washington, DC — On Friday, The National Consumers League (NCL) and four other advocacy groups joined a legal “friend of the court” brief in litigation seeking to undo the Federal Trade Commission’s popular “Click to Cancel” Rule. The brief was drafted by the Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice at UC Berkeley School of Law and focuses on the substantial record of manipulative subscription traps relied on by the FTC in crafting the Rule.
“The effort corporations have expended to fight this commonsense consumer protection regulation has surely exceeded any direct compliance costs associated with complying with the rule,” said National Consumers League Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud John Breyault. “Allowing consumers to cancel subscriptions as easily as they signed up is popular and should have been the law decades ago. The FTC’s Rule is long overdue and should not be stalled any longer.”
“Americans are tired of being tricked and manipulated with subscription traps. Corporations should focus on ways to give people a transparent sign-up and cancellation process for products they actually want rather than ways to deceive and exhaust consumers into never-ending, costly subscriptions,” said Erin Witte, director of consumer protection at the Consumer Federation of America. “CFA is proud to join this brief and urge the Eighth Circuit to uphold the Click to Cancel rule.”
“Whether it is gym memberships, news subscriptions, entertainment services, or home security services, recurring charges are easy to start but can be hard to cancel. Some companies hold consumers hostage when they no longer want to spend money on services and unfairly profit at significant expense to hardworking individuals and families,” said Shennan Kavanagh, director of litigation at the National Consumer Law Center. “The FTC’s Click to Cancel Rule is a fair and commonsense solution to this problem.”
“The FTC Click to Cancel Rule requires that canceling a subscription should be as simple as signing up for one. Trustworthy companies should not lock customers into agreements to earn a profit,” said Ruth Susswein, director of consumer protection at Consumer Action. “Consumers deserve an easy exit policy with simple steps on how to cancel a subscription.”
“Digital subscriptions for products and services are increasing, and so are the deceptive practices that trick people into staying and paying for them,” said Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. “Hopefully, the court will uphold the FTC’s reasonable click-to-cancel rule and its simple steps to help keep consumers aware and businesses honest.”
“People sign up for services. They don’t sign up for a treadmill they can never get off of,” said Ted Mermin, executive director of the Center for Law and Economic Justice at UC Berkeley. “The FTC scrupulously followed proper procedures in creating the Click to Cancel Rule, and that rule is going to benefit everybody in this country.”
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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.
