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.

1. FTC Halts Operations and Freezes Assets of Companies Offering Trial Offers
   The FTC filed a suit against 59 corporations and three individuals for violating the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act (ROSCA) for deceptively selling products on 87 websites through free trials that converted to recurring charges on consumers’ credit cards. This is yet another reminder that offer copy below a checkout or submit button is simply not going to cut it in the eyes of the FTC or other regulators enforcing ROSCA.  
2. California SB-313: New Law Addressing Recurring Billing Subscriptions with Free Gifts or Trials and Online Cancellations
   Existing CA law already makes it unlawful for a business that makes an automatic renewal offer or continuous service offer to fail to present the automatic renewal or continuous service offer terms in a clear and conspicuous manner.  On July 1, 2018, the new law will require that if such an offer includes a free gift or trial, the offer must also include a clear and conspicuous explanation of the price that will be charged after the trial ends and addresses rules for how auto-renewal customers should cancel.
3. How the New European Data Privacy Law Will Impact Subscription Companies
   Europeans and the European government are taking data privacy very seriously. In fact, some are saying the EU’s new law – General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – is the most important change in data privacy regulation in the last 20 years. GDPR was approved and adopted by EU Parliament in April 2016. In May 2018, the two-year transition period for GDPR expires and the new data privacy law goes into effect and will be fully enforceable across the European Union.
4. Auto-Renewal Worst Practices: How NOT To Violate The Law Or Lose In The Court Of Public Opinion
   When Equifax revealed that hackers stole credit data for 143 million people, the company offered a remedy: a free year enrollment in its data protection service. The catch? After the year is up, users will be automatically billed for the next year. But that may raise more legal issues for the company if it is accused of violating ROSCA law.
5. Last Phase of Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) Rolls Out July 1
   As of July 1, 2017, the three-year transition period that started on July 1, 2014 will end. Companies had three years to obtain express consent from their promotional lists as well as establish overall CASL consent. That grace period is now over and all companies are required to be fully compliant with CASL or face the consequences.
6. The FTC Speaks Out Again On Social Media Endorsements: Updated Endorsement Guidelines and FAQs
   The FTC has been quite clear that it feels influencers are persuasive and therefore, in order to protect consumers, disclosures of material connections are critical. It has again clarified its expectations and no entity in the “advertising food chain” should be relying on anyone else for compliance.
7. California Superior Court Fines Beachbody $3.6 Million
   The California superior court has fined subscription company, Beachbody, $3.6 Million after an investigation found it was applying recurring charges for subscription renewals, sometimes after so-called free trials, without proper consent.
8. Negative Option Plans are [Again] Subject of Legislative Scrutiny
   Are you familiar with the recent bill, the “Unsubscribe Act of 2017?” You should be. This bill focuses on negative option contracts offered on the internet and includes a number of potentially problematic requirements. There is also a host of state legislative initiatives also focused on “negative option” or auto-renew that can and will impact your subscription or membership business if you are not careful.
9. Are You Compliant with New FTC Guidance on Cross-Device Tracking?
   The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on January 23, 2017, released a report designed to provide guidance and insight into the legal issues associated with tracking a user across multiple devices. For advertisers, this type of tracking is an effective means to raise conversion rates, save purchase cart abandonment, or even raise engagement.
10. Five Legal Issues to Consider Before Offering Them
    How you set up a trial offer, how you disclose certain elements of that offer in marketing copy, and how your financial operations manage money related to that free trial offer. all have potential legal implications. We walk through five legal considerations every business should be mindful of when incorporating a trial offer to your subscription or membership product.