Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revived its efforts to update the Negative Option Rule. On Friday, the FTC announced it had submitted a draft Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) concerning the agency’s Rule Concerning the Use of Prenotification Negative Option Plans (the Negative Option Rule), to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and Budget.
Last summer, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the rule on the bases that it was not promulgated in accordance with necessary rulemaking procedures, and was overly broad. The text of the updated rule is not yet public, but we anticipate it will address the Eighth Circuit’s concerns, including taking a narrower approach in its restrictions of autorenewal and subscription marketing.
