Washington, D.C. — Following a new ruling from United States Court of Appeals for Eighth District that vacates the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Negative Option Rule (or Click-to-Cancel Rule) on pure procedural grounds, effectively killing the rule before it’s slated to go into effect next week, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statements.

“The Chamber of Commerce sued to kill the FTC’s massively popular Click-to-Cancel Rule — and Chair Andrew Ferguson, who voted against the rule, delayed its enforcement long enough for big corporate lobbyists to win in court,” said Nidhi Hegde, Executive Director of the American Economic Liberties Project. “It’s bad enough that the Trump FTC has done nothing to bring down costs for the American people. Now, by slow-walking a simple, massively popular protection, they’ve ensured that hardworking people will keep getting stuck with subscriptions they don’t want or can’t afford from cable companies, gyms, and online services. If the FTC is serious about affordability for everyday Americans, it must reissue the rule immediately.”

“The Byzantine rulemaking process provides courts with infinite discretion to torpedo rules in service of deep-pocketed corporations and in spite of overwhelming public support,” said Lee Hepner, Senior Legal Counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project. “The Commission received 16,000 public comments on its rule, yet the 8th Circuit has the temerity to suggest the Commission failed to provide enough process to the Chamber of Commerce. Congress gave the FTC the power to stop unfair and deceptive practices. If Chair Ferguson wants to distinguish his Commission from the corporations hamstringing government, he will reissue the rule immediately. In the meantime, state lawmakers have a template to act and should do so promptly to protect their constituents from unfettered market deception.”

Learn more about how states can codify key consumer protection rules, like Click-to-Cancel, here.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.