Ending Subscription Traps: The Long Fight and the Path Forward

It has never been legal to trap people in subscriptions. Under federal law and in most states, the practice is both unfair and deceptive. Yet for years, some of the largest corporations continued trapping people with impunity. State and federal enforcers brought cases – lots of them – but the problem didn’t go away. In fact, last year, the FTC received an average of nearly 70 complaints every day from frustrated consumers.

When Lina Khan became Chair of the FTC in 2021, we tried to change that. One of our earliest moves was issuing a bipartisan policy statement making clear that subscription traps are unlawful. We followed up with major enforcement actions, including a $100 million judgment against telecom provider Vonage for trapping small businesses. Still, the problem persisted.

So in 2023, we pursued a different strategy. We dusted off the FTC’s rulemaking authority – largely unused for 40 years – and proposed a “Click to Cancel” rule requiring companies to clearly disclose terms and make cancellations as easy as sign-ups.

The proposal generated overwhelming public enthusiasm, with more than 16,000 supportive comments. People shared story after story of paying for subscriptions they didn’t want and couldn’t cancel. But not everyone cheered. Tech giants, major advertisers, cable companies, and others – often working through trade associations – opposed the rule, insisting the problem wasn’t widespread. Given the massive profits these companies earn from trapping people in monthly payments, this was not surprising. Nonetheless, the widespread public engagement made it clear to the FTC that subscription traps were a pervasive problem, and we pressed ahead – issuing a final rule in October 2024.

Then the fight shifted. Industry groups sued. A new administration took office at the FTC, and one of their early moves – one that still has not been explained – was to delay implementation of the rule. Soon after, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the rule, concluding that companies did not have ample time to weigh in during the rulemaking. Because of the Trump Administration’s delay, the rule never had a chance to take effect.

If that were the end of the story, it would be a frustrating one – Americans were on the cusp of finally being free of subscription traps. But the story isn’t over. Over the past four years, inspired and encouraged by the FTC, momentum is building across the country to pass strong click-to-cancel laws. And as our new map shows, states both red and blue have taken up the cause. Our hope is that soon, enough states will have adopted these protections that companies will finally free people from subscription traps – or that the FTC will revive the rule.

This experience offers several key lessons. First: use every tool. When enforcement wasn’t enough, we issued a policy statement; when that fell short, we wrote a rule. Second: be ambitious. The federal rule never took effect – but it is helping drive state-level laws protecting millions of Americans. Finally: engage the public. Rather than use legalese, we called our initiative “Click to Cancel” so the public would understand what we were aiming to do. And the public responded, filing thousands of comments to express support for the government finally taking action to make people’s lives better.

With today’s launch of EndSubscriptionTraps.com, we aim to continue building momentum for commonsense reforms that save consumers time, money, and aggravation. We hope you’ll join us. Check out our map regularly, share with your friends and neighbors, and subscribe to our newsletter for updates. If you ever want out, we’ll make it easy to cancel.