Bondi
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Thursday that Florida consumers who were billed for subscriptions to online video, game and music services by RealNetworks Inc. may be eligible for refunds.
Under the terms of an agreement with the Washington-based company, consumers who were billed for such services as Superpass, Gamepass and Rhapsody may be eligible to receive a portion of the $2 million in restitution made available to consumers who were charged for RealNetworks Inc. services without their consent.
Websites run by RealNetworks Inc. allegedly failed to clearly disclose that subscribers would start being charged after preliminary free trial periods. In addition, the online service allegedly used pre-checked consent boxes and engaged in other deceptive practices that have been prohibited as part of the agreement.
Consumers who were charged because of a failure to uncheck pre-checked consent boxes will receive individual notification if they are eligible to receive restitution. Consumers who were charged by Gamepass, Superpass or Rhapsody may be eligible to receive restitution if they did not authorize a paid subscription, they continued to be billed after canceling their subscriptions, they were enrolled in the services between Jan. 1, 2007, and Dec. 31, 2009, and they make a request for restitution by Aug. 22.