New York has enacted a new law, effective February 9, 2021, regulating automatic renewal and some “free trial” type agreements. While some organizations may have already taken steps to be in compliance with industry requirements, the federal Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), and similar auto-renewal laws in place in California and other states, all businesses should review their practices to ensure compliance with this new law.

The New York law is, in many ways, modelled after California’s comprehensive auto-renewal law. (See Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17600 et seq.). With such a legislative template in mind, on November 11, 2020, New York’s Governor Cuomo signed into law S1475, which amends the General Business Law to enact New York’s own strict auto-renewal law. S1475 includes broad consumer protection requirements and imposes notice and transparency requirements regarding offer terms and cancellation options for automatic renewal plans and arrangements.

The new law is relevant to all consumer-facing businesses that might enter into automatic renewal or continuous service agreements, such as online businesses, media companies, subscription-based companies (including software providers), and many more entities in the consumer space.

For an in-depth discussion of the new law, please see our Client Alert posted on Proskauer’s website.

Posted in Contracts, Legislation, Online Commerce
Tags: automatic renewal law, free trials, new legislation, New York auto-renewal law, online subscriptions
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Photo of Jeffrey Neuburger Jeffrey Neuburger

Jeffrey Neuburger is co-head of Proskauer’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group, head of the Firm’s Blockchain Group and a member of the Firm’s Privacy & Cybersecurity Group.

Jeff’s practice focuses on technology, media and intellectual property-related transactions, counseling and dispute resolution. That expertise…

Jeffrey Neuburger is co-head of Proskauer’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group, head of the Firm’s Blockchain Group and a member of the Firm’s Privacy & Cybersecurity Group.

Jeff’s practice focuses on technology, media and intellectual property-related transactions, counseling and dispute resolution. That expertise, combined with his professional experience at General Electric and academic experience in computer science, makes him a leader in the field.

As one of the architects of the technology law discipline, Jeff continues to lead on a range of business-critical transactions involving the use of emerging technology and distribution methods. For example, Jeff has become one of the foremost private practice lawyers in the country for the implementation of blockchain-based technology solutions, helping clients in a wide variety of industries capture the business opportunities presented by the rapid evolution of blockchain. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Task Force on Emerging Digital Finance and Currency.

Jeff counsels on a variety of e-commerce, social media and advertising matters; represents many organizations in large infrastructure-related projects, such as outsourcing, technology acquisitions, cloud computing initiatives and related services agreements; advises on the implementation of biometric technology; and represents clients on a wide range of data aggregation, privacy and data security matters. In addition, Jeff assists clients on a wide range of issues related to intellectual property and publishing matters in the context of both technology-based applications and traditional media.

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