ToplineThe Federal Trade Commission will soon implement a rule making it easier for consumers to cancel their subscriptions and memberships, according to an announcement Wednesday, effectively clamping down on companies who complicate the cancellation process and threatening them with civil penalties if they continue to do so.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission adopted a final rule on Wednesday requiring businesses to make it as easy to cancel subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up, in the agency's last major rulemaking before the Nov.