The Federal Trade Commission’s Click‑to‑Cancel rule, which was scheduled to take full effect on July 14, 2025, was recently struck down by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court found the FTC failed to conduct a required preliminary economic impact analysis under the Administrative Procedure Act—a fatal procedural defect.

Before celebrating and simply ignoring getting “click-to-cancel” functionality implemented in your business, I invite you to consider that the principle behind the rule – making cancellation as easy as sign-up – has not disappeared. And businesses would be wise not to interpret the court’s decision as a safe harbor.

The FTC Still Has Enforcement Options.

The FTC has been pursuing, and has signaled that it intends to continue to pursue deceptive practices utilizing various mechanisms including those listed below:

• Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA):
  This existing federal law mandates clear disclosures, express consent, and simple cancellation options for most online negative‑option purchases. (Negative option purchases or negative option marketing involve a subscription or recurring purchase where consumers are enrolled unless they actively opt out.) Interpreted broadly, ROSCA covers subscription renewals and similar offers.
• Section 5 of the FTC Act:
  Even without a new rule, the FTC retains authority to act against unfair or deceptive subscription practices, such as hidden fees or cancellation barriers—through case-by-case enforcement. Violations of this or other portions of the Act can result in fines up to $53,088 per violation.
• Continued Active Enforcement:
  The FTC has signaled it may continue pursuing enforcement under existing laws without rulemaking, demonstrating its intent to remain vigilant.

So while the FTC rule as proposed has been vacated, for now, the requirement that businesses act with transparency and avoid consumer abuses (including through deceptive subscription or renewal practices) has not gone away.

Importantly, State Laws also Impose Regulatory Requirements that May go Further than Click-to-Cancel obligations:

In addition to the FTC’s continued obligation to police the marketplace as a consumer watchdog and bring enforcement actions based on the mechanisms above, multiple states already have (or soon will have) requirements that go even further than Click-to-Cancel obligations:

• California (Auto‑Renewal Law, effective July 1, 2025)
  The Automatic Renewal Law (ARL) which applies to California businesses or those businesses selling to California residents, requires consent to auto‑renewal terms themselves—not just the contract—and mandates easy cancellation mechanisms, including limits on retention “save” offers where companies attempt to persuade customers not to cancel their subscriptions by making new offers.
• State Auto-Renewal Laws May also Restrict Business-to-Business Transactions
  Some state auto-renewal laws go beyond business-to-consumer transactions and seek to regulate business-to-business transactions as well such as the recently amended Colorado law (SB25-145) which goes into effect in February 16, 2026.
• Other States & UDAP (Unfair or Deceptive Acts & Practices) Laws
  States like New York, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Illinois enforce their own unfair/deceptive trade practices laws—often cracking down on hard-to-cancel subscriptions. Even retention tactics during cancel attempts may be restricted (similar to California’s law above).

The reality is that the purpose behind the proposed “Click-to-Cancel” rule is not going anywhere – and laws already exist that allow the FTC enforcement mechanisms for those who are obfuscating the cancellation process or engaging in any deceptive practices pertaining to enrollment or re-enrollment of services or subscriptions.

This is why, in my opinion, implementing best practices in your business is not only smart decision making, but an excellent growth strategy based on delivering the highest level of care to your customers.

So what are best practices?

Best Practices for Ethical and Compliant Subscription Management

Essentially, put yourself in your customer’s shoes, and walk yourself through the process of not only enrolling in the services offered by your business, but cancelling said services as well.

Properly handling the items above will not only improve your relationship with your clients, but help protect you against regulatory actions and compliance issues, and help you meet other existing regulatory requirements.

Specifically in relation to cancellation, is cancellation easy to complete? Is it easy to FIND for your customers? Is it as seamless as the sign-up process was? And if not, how can you quickly update your systems and processes to fix that?

Summary of Where We Are Now

Ethical Business is Smart Business

Even though the federal “Click‑to‑Cancel” rule has been blocked, regulatory and consumer pressure remain strong. The FTC intends to continue to perform its obligations under existing regulations.

And regulatory compliance with existing regulations are no joke – for violations of section 5 of the FTC Act (prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices), violators may be fined up to $53,088 per violation.

Businesses that adopt clear, seamless, and fair subscription practices are better able to not only avoid enforcement pressure and regulatory compliance issues, but most importantly, they retain the trust of their customers.

And developing trust through clear communication and taking care of your clients in the way that you would want to be cared for by a similarly situated business is the best business growth strategy there is.

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Looking for a regulatory compliance review or audit, or want help implementing your Website documentation, including terms of purchase, or subscription terms? Book a consultation to learn more, including about my Website Protection Package (which includes these terms and more), or other ways I can help you protect your business.

DISCLAIMER: THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS POST MAY CONTAIN LEGAL INFORMATION, BUT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE. NO RELATIONSHIP, INCLUDING ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP, HAS BEEN FORMED AS A RESULT OF THIS POST. YOU ARE ADVISED TO SEEK THE ADVICE OF AN ATTORNEY LICENSED IN YOUR STATE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.

© 2025 Heather Pearce Campbell, The Legal Website Warrior®