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The number one rule of doing business online: Be careful.

A number of shady online retailers have been cropping up recently: They seem to exist with the sole purpose of confusing their customers.

I am weary of companies that use phrases like, "Free Trial," or, "Cancel Anytime!" Some people aren't. Would you believe that a lot of people don't bother to read the fine print?

I believe that credit card companies should stand up for their customers by putting a stop to confusing business practices. Recently, a relative of mine got scammed. In theory, the company didn't do anything illegal. Since my in-laws clicked the checkbox stating that they had read the terms, there's absolutely nothing they could do about their $250 loss.

Credit card companies are well-suited to forcing changes upon the industry, as they have done in the past with PCI security standards.

Here's what I propose:

1. Online merchants must prove that a customer has seen a full breakdown of all current and/or future (subscription) charges that will be processed, before the customer's final authorization. Current AND subscription totals must be given the same visual emphasis (i.e., no hiding things in the fine print). An e-mail confirmation must be sent, with the same information.

2. Authorizations by proxy for third-parties (whether for one-time or recurring charges) must not be permitted, unless they are itemized separately and clearly as in item 1 above.

3. Terms hidden in "fine print" shall not constitute any kind of authorization for processing credit card transactions. "I agree to pay the following per my cardholder agreement," or similar, needs to be visible in "large print," and in my humble opinion should be enough to provide authorization specifically related to the charges.

4. Provided that the "large print" doesn't imply a contradiction, terms related to refund policies and guarantees can be written in fine print.