Negative option billing

You are charged unless you act to stop it.

Negative option billing means silence counts as consent. A free trial that converts to a paid subscription unless cancelled is the everyday example.

The practice is lawful when disclosed properly and billed with the required notice. Federal and state auto-renewal rules set out what "properly" means, and the gap between the rule and the checkout flow is where cases come from.

Related terms

• Class action - One lawsuit brought on behalf of everyone harmed the same way.
• Class representative - The named person who stands in for the whole class.
• Class certification - The court ruling that lets one case speak for everyone.
• Arbitration clause - Contract language sending disputes to a private forum instead of court.
• Class-action waiver - A term saying you may only bring a claim for yourself, never as a group.
• Unconscionability - A contract term so one-sided a court refuses to enforce it.
• Contract of adhesion - A take-it-or-leave-it contract with no room to negotiate.
• Assent - Whether you actually agreed, and how the company proved it.