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New York City to become first in US to ban deceptive subscription practices (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/upliftingnews@lemmy.world
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New York City has adopted a new rule that bans companies from using deceptive subscriptions to trap customers into paying for gym memberships, streaming services and other recurring charges, the city’s consumer protection office said.

The new rule, which will start on 1 October, promises hefty fines and aggressive enforcement for violators. Companies that do not provide a simple way to cancel could pay $525 per user subscription, back fees and additional fines.

The city is also targeting so-called “junk fees” that raise the final price of everything from apartments to sporting events, with a proposed rule that requires sellers to “advertise the total price for any good or service, including all mandatory additional charges and fees, up front”, according to a release shared with the Guardian.

New York would be the first US city to implement such a ban.

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[–] 7 points 1 month ago

It is pretty wild how different laws are around the country, make a wrong turn and you can suddenly be committing a felony for something that was 100% legal on the other side of the border.

I'm from Pennsylvania, right next door to us in New Jersey. There was one story a couple years ago about a woman in Philly who made a wrong turn, crossed the bridge into NJ, and while trying to find somewhere to turn around and go back home, she got pulled over for some minor traffic violation or something.

But the catch is that she was carrying a gun. She was 100% legal in PA, had her carry permit on her, but PA and NJ gun laws are very different and NJ doesn't recognize a PA license to carry. So she ended spending like a month in jail and was facing I think 3 years in prison all because of a wrong turn.

I've made that same kind of wrong turn before and all it's cost me was a few minutes of my time and a couple bucks in tolls.

And it's not just guns, we have a patchwork of all kinds of different stupid laws, marijuana for example.

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