Volume II

Issue : 13: June 24, 2004

• Canadian Spammer Settles CAN-SPAM Lawsuit
• Extracting and Posting Website Facts Not Copyright Infringement
• Federal Court Overturns Privacy Commissioners Finding in Video Surveillance Case
• US Court Says No to Employment Notification Sent via Email
• EC Releases Consultation Paper on Regulation of VoIP - U.S. Justice Department seeks Regulation of VoIP to Facilitate Police Surveillance
• Zero-Knowledge Initiates Copyright Suit Against IBM
• French Court Fines AOL for Abusive and Illegal Contracts
• U.S. Appeals Court Finds No Civil Liability for Mere Possession of Pirate Access Devices
• ISPs Not Liable for Copyright Infringement for Storing Data

Home > Volume II > Issue 13: June 24, 2004 > French Court Fines AOL for Abusive and Illegal Contracts

French Court Fines AOL for Abusive and Illegal Contracts

A French court has fined America Online US $36,000 for including in its customer contract clauses that are abusive and illegal under French law. The court also ordered AOL to drop such clauses from its future contacts and declared them unenforceable in the case of existing contracts. Such clauses include a let-out clause, by which AOL declined responsibility for interruptions or errors in service, and a clause charging dial-up clients a minimum of one minute each time they start a minute. The court proceedings began when the French Consumers Union sued AOL-France on 38 clauses it had alleged were illegal under French Law. AOL has said that it intends to appeal the judgment.

For more information visit:

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/18/1087245076154.html