Click to subscribe. Call, beg and wait to cancel.

The Federal Trade Commission’s revised Negative Option Rule was meant to impose a wonderfully boring principle: cancelling a recurring charge should be as easy as starting one. Businesses would need clear consent, clearer disclosures and a simple exit.

In July 2025, the Eighth Circuit vacated the rule on procedural grounds just days before its main requirements were due to take effect. State laws and existing consumer-protection powers remained, but the nationwide baseline disappeared.

Friction has a revenue line

Cancellation mazes are often discussed as bad design. That is too generous. When every extra screen, retention offer and hidden control increases the percentage of people who keep paying, inconvenience becomes an instrument of revenue.

The industry term is negative option marketing: silence or inaction is treated as consent to continue. The customer experiences forgetfulness. The company experiences predictable recurring revenue.

Amazon showed the scale

In September 2025, Amazon agreed to a $2.5 billion FTC settlement over allegations that it used dark patterns to enrol consumers in Prime and made cancellation difficult. The settlement included a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion in refunds.

A cancellation flow is an ethical document. It reveals whether a business believes consent must continue—or merely needs to be captured once. The production-ready version of any subscription should include a visible price, a reminder before renewal, a one-step exit and immediate confirmation. Anything less is retention by obstruction.