State of FTC's 'Click to Cancel' Rule Unclear: Venable
The status of the FTC's "click to cancel" rule, which is being challenged by NCTA and others before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (see 2411220029), is unclear under the new presidential administration, Venable wrote this week. New FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson voted against the rule when it was originally promulgated, and arguments that Commissioner Melissa Holyoak made in her dissent were seemingly echoed in the petitioners' brief before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to Venable. President Donald Trump's executive order requiring regulatory agency leaders to assess rules for potential rescission or modification "add[s] to the uncertainty of the rule's future," it said.
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In an amicus brief posted Wednesday in docket 24-3137, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, Consumer Credit Industry Association and Service Contract Industry Council -- backing the challenge of the FTC rule -- said the agency has legal authority only for industry-wide rules that focus on unfair or deceptive practices. The "click to cancel" rule exceeds that authority since it's not crafted to a particular industry, they said. It also fails to specifically define unfair or deceptive acts or practices, so regulated companies know what they can't do, the brief said.