Nick Fountain

And the story started back in the late 90s when this company called Salesforce started offering their software as a subscription service.

Then we explained how Silicon Valley venture capitalists helped export that model to everything from razors and meal kits to streaming services or, you know, new features on the tractor you just bought.

And a big part of the story, if I recall correctly, was about the downsides of this explosion in subscriptions.

You actually called the show the subscription trap.

Because people are not just getting oversubscribed out of forgetfulness, a lot of companies have also been doing more nefarious things, like making it difficult to cancel on purpose.

But it seemed like this might all be about to change.

That's right.

When we aired the show last fall, the Federal Trade Commission, the FTC, had just passed this new regulation called the Click to Cancel Rule.

The rule was supposed to require companies to make it just as easy to leave a service as it was to sign up.

And also, it would have put big fines on companies that did not do that.

Then two big things happened.

First, President Trump announced a new FTC chair named Andrew Ferguson, who actually voted against passing the click-to-cancel rule.

He said it was ideologically motivated and rushed through.

And second, a federal appeals court struck down the rule, citing procedural errors.

Here's Ferguson talking to Fox News about it.

Unfortunately, the previous administration, as they often did, cut tons of corners.

They were more concerned about press releases than they were about delivering results for Americans.

They skipped important procedural steps, and a court had to strike the rule down.

But this is one of my priorities.

Ferguson said the agency does still have another tool to fight subscription abuse, including the Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act, or ROSCA for the real heads.