Regulation and Compliance

Last Friday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK announced it is investigating the gaming subscriptions of Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox to determine if their business practices and terms and conditions are legal and fair. It has written to each of the companies asking for information about their online gaming contracts. The CMA, which is the UKs primary competition and consumer authority, is also asking consumers to reach out to share their personal experiences.

Weve got another feature-packed Five on Friday for you. In this weeks edition, PYMNTS explains how free trials help subscription companies turn tryers into buyers, Adblock Plus celebrates a Germany court ruling, Inc. explores why Netflix wants to buy a billboard company, INMA offers insight into how the news media is shifting its subscription strategy by leveraging customer emotions, and Amy Porterfield shares the six principles of GDPR which goes into effect May 25. May the 4th be with you!

The FCC officially repeals net neutrality, YouTube launches "Shorts," a rival to TikTok, and Netflix is testing an audio-only mode.

Lisa B. Dubrow, Esq, our Subscription Insider Guide to Subscription Regulation and Compliance and partner at Dubrow & Bhonslay, reminds members of the upcoming deadlines related to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

We are less than a week away from the Christmas holiday, and the subscription news keeps coming. In today's edition of Five on Friday, DoNotPay raises $4.6 million in funding and launches a virtual credit card that cancels free subscription trials. Also this week, Coca-Cola launches a beverage subscription to a limited number of subscribers, the FTC considers an injunction against Facebook's app integrations, Apple Arcade adds an annual subscription payment option, and we share customer service stats to help you plan for 2020.

Regulation was a hot topic for subscription companies in 2017, so much so, that these were amongst our most popular articles of the year. With the explosion of subscriptions businesses, the FTC was busy in 2017 with actions meant to keep consumers safe. New state laws, security breaches, and global privacy regulations round out our most read legal articles.

As marketers, you need to support all advertising claims. However, sometimes a claim might appear ambiguous and therefore you might conclude it is not necessary to support. Because food boxes are so popular now we thought we would report on a claim made by a food manufacturer where the definition of local was one focus of the case.

We are busy preparing for our big Subscription Show next month, but that didn't stop us from preparing a feature-filled Five on Friday for you. This week, Delta Airlines gets into the subscription business, Scribe launches a subscription greeting card service with the help of artists, EU regulators have concerns about Apple Pay's possible anticompetitive behavior, Hulu adds like and dislike buttons to personalize suggestions and, everyone's favorite feature, LinkedIn shares top subscription jobs.

Tuesday was a big day for Disney (NYSE: DIS). The entertainment and media company announced its third fiscal quarter financials for the period ended July 1, 2017, the acquisition of a majority ownership of BAMTech, and its plans for over-the-top streaming services for Disney in 2019 and ESPN in 2018. Though the Disney news is all related, we'll tackle one topic at a time.First, let's look at the new streaming services Disney is planning. In early 2018, Disney will launch an ESPN-branded multi-sport video streaming service. The service will offer a range of sports programming; approximately 10,000 live regional, national and international games and events, including Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, Grand Slam tennis, and college sports...

In a controversial move last Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission repealed net neutrality, voting to overturn what it called heavy-handed, unnecessary governmental oversight over internet service providers. Net neutrality was enacted under the Obama administration in 2015 to impose fairness and openness across the internet, prohibiting ISPs from blocking or slowing down certain websites or providing preferential treatment to companies willing to pay for premium access or service.