Earlier this month the FTC announced it was modifying some existing rules to crack down on companies that make it extremely difficult to cancel services. The agency’s revamp of its 1973 “Negative Option Rule” requires companies be completely transparent about the limitations of deals and promotions, requires consumers actively consent to having read terms and deal restrictions, and generally makes cancelling a service as easy as signing up.
So of course, cable and media giants like Comcast and Charter, who’ve built an entire industry on being overtly hostile to consumers, are suing.
Under the banner of the NCTA (The Internet & Television Association), Comcast and Charter filed a lawsuit late last week in the Republican-heavy 5th circuit, claiming the new rules are “arbitrary,” “onerous,” “capricious,” and an abuse of the industry’s existing authority. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) (with members ranging from Disney to Google) also joined the lawsuit.
Corporate members of most of these organizations have a long, proud history of misleading promotions and making it difficult to cancel services. The Wall Street Journal, for example, historically made it annoyingly difficult to cancel digital subscriptions. And telecoms, of course, have historically made misleading their customers via fine print a high art form.
There doesn't seem to be anything here yet