Subscribing to online services is typically a straightforward process, but cancelling them can be arduous and confusing -- causing many to resign and continue paying for services they no longer use. Making the cancellation intentionally difficult is recognized as a dark pattern called Roach Motel. This paper characterizes the subscription and cancellation flows of popular news websites from four different countries, and discusses them in the context of recent regulatory changes. We study the design features that make it difficult to cancel a subscription and find several cancellation flows that feature intentional barriers, such as forcing users to type in a phrase or call a representative. Further, we find many subscription flows that do not adequately inform users about recurring charges. Our results point to a growing need for effective regulation of designs that trick, coerce, or manipulate users into paying for subscriptions they do not want.

翻译：订阅在线服务通常是一个直接的过程，但取消它们可能既繁琐又令人困惑——导致许多用户放弃并继续为不再使用的服务付费。故意使取消变得困难被认定为一种称为“蟑螂旅馆”的暗黑模式。本文描述了来自四个不同国家的热门新闻网站的订阅与取消流程，并讨论了近期监管变化背景下的这些现象。我们研究了使取消订阅变得困难的设计特征，发现了几种包含故意障碍的取消流程，例如强制用户输入短语或致电客服代表。此外，我们发现许多订阅流程未能充分告知用户有关重复收费的情况。我们的结果表明，迫切需要有效监管那些欺骗、胁迫或操纵用户为不需要的订阅付费的设计。