Currently, it is technically legal for a company to advertise a special offer on an item in order to draw in consumers, and only explain that the purchase is part of some sort of trial membership in the fine print of the terms and conditions. Although this is technically legal, it is blatantly unethical.
Legislation should be introduced that requires companies to show the terms of a trial membership that is attached to an item sale by explicitly showing the amount and date of the next membership charge on the invoice before the consumer remits payment. This is necessary to protect the consumer from being victimized by a business model that thrives on the consumer being unaware of the impending membership charge.