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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacates in its entirety the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) entire “Click-to-Cancel” Rule aka the “Click-to-Cancel Rule.  The proposed rules were set to go into effect on July 14, 2025.  

In vacating the rule, the Eighth Circuit held that the FTC failed to comply with procedural requirements governing its rulemaking and thus deprived the petitioners—comprised of various industry associations and individual businesses—of a fair opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process.  

As reported previously, the proposed rules were designed to make it easier for customers to cancel automatic renewals and subscription offers.  Negative-option offers include offers in which the seller interprets a consumer’s silence or failure to take affirmative action as acceptance or continuing acceptance of an offer, which would include “automatic renewal” contracts or subscriptions, unless the consumer This would have also applied to “free trials”  “free trial” offers, for a trial period and, after the trial period, at a higher price unless a consumer affirmatively cancels or returns the good or service. 

Although the rule has been vacated in its entirety, please be aware that the FTC can continue to bring enforcement actions against companies for automatic renewal practices that are unfair or deceptive under Section 5 of the FTC Act or that the Telemarketing Sales Rule.