July 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court blocked a rule

that would have required businesses to make it as easy to cancel

subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up, saying the

agency that created it did not follow protocol.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which passed the rule

under former Democratic Chair Lina Khan, failed to conduct a

preliminary analysis of the costs and benefits of the rule, said

the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. The rule was

set to take effect on July 14.

A spokesperson for the FTC declined to comment on Tuesday.

The rule would have required retailers, gyms and other

businesses to provide cancellation methods for subscriptions,

auto-renewals and free trials that convert to paid memberships

that are "at least as easy to use" as the sign up process.

It also aimed to keep companies from making consumers who

signed up through an app or a website go through a chatbot or

agent to cancel.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a trade group representing

major cable and internet providers such as Charter

Communications ( CHTR ), Comcast ( CMCSA ), and Cox

Communications, and media companies like Disney

Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery ( WBD ) are

among those suing to block the rule.