The War on Porn Regular Updates about the Assault on The Adult Industry
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It always seems to start the same way: you notice a charge you don’t recognize, scroll through your bank app, and realize—again—that you’re paying for something you thought you canceled months ago. That frustration is the backdrop as the Federal Trade Commission once more steps into the messy, bureaucratic maze of subscription rules, trying to revive its long-stalled effort to rein in negative option plans after a federal court knocked down its last attempt.
In a statement released Friday, the FTC said it has submitted a draft Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, or ANPRM, on its Negative Option Rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. OIRA, which sits inside the Office of Management and Budget, now gets to scrutinize the proposal before the FTC can publish it in the Federal Register. Only then does the public get a say—one more round of comments, one more chance for consumers to vent about subscriptions that refuse to die.
The commission’s vote to approve sending the draft to OIRA was unanimous, though that unanimity comes with an asterisk. The FTC currently has only two sitting commissioners, leaving three seats empty. One of those two, Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson, had previously voted against the updated Negative Option Rule when it narrowly passed in October 2024. It’s a strange kind of consensus, the sort you get when the room is half-empty.
That earlier rule didn’t survive long anyway. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit vacated it while further review plays out, siding with critics who argued the agency overstepped its authority and skipped required procedural steps by failing to issue a preliminary regulatory analysis. In regulatory terms, it was less a slap on the wrist and more a reminder that process still matters—even when intentions are good.
Back in December 2025, the FTC also posted a petition for rulemaking from the Consumer Federation of America and the American Economic Liberties Project. The public comment window on that petition closed Jan. 2, quietly adding another layer of pressure and paperwork to an already complicated path forward.
The Negative Option Rule itself isn’t new. It dates back to the 1970s, born in an era of mail-order clubs and surprise shipments, designed to stop consumers from being signed up—and billed—without clear consent. The 2024 amendments would have dramatically expanded its reach, covering nearly all negative option programs, from auto-renewing subscriptions to “free trial” offers that quietly flip into paid plans. For many websites, that would have meant rethinking how sign-ups work and, more importantly, how easy it is to cancel.
Now, with the process restarted yet again, the FTC could circle back with the same ideas, or something close to them. Whether this time leads to real change—or just another loop through regulatory limbo—remains the open question hanging over every “Cancel subscription” button that somehow never quite does what it promises.
