From a Wall Street Journal story by Katie Deighton headlined “FTC Proposed Penalizing Firms for Onerous Call-to-Cancel Subscriptions”:

The Federal Trade Commission is proposing a new rule requiring companies to offer an easy click-to-cancel option for subscriptions.

The proposal forms part of the FTC’s efforts to clamp down on companies that operate burdensome subscription cancellation practices, including “click to subscribe, call to cancel” systems.

The FTC wants companies to make it as easy for customers to cancel recurring payments as it is to sign up, commission Chair Lina Khan said. Consumers often get stuck paying for auto-renewing contracts because they are forced by companies to sit on lengthy phone calls to cancel subscriptions, while signing up requires just a few clicks online.