China Electronics Wholesaler

AT&T Settles Ringtone Lawsuit

posted Jun 2, 2008, 7:35 PM   by Eric M. Zeman

AT&T has settled a group of sixteen separate class action lawsuits filed against it over third-party billing of ringtones and other content. The original lawsuits contended that AT&T customers were misled or not thoroughly informed about charges to their accounts for downloading certain third-party content. Members of the class action suits will be reimbursed for up to three months of third-party charges that occurred anywhere on their bill between Jan. 1, 2004, and May 30, 2008. AT&T did not state what amount of refunds it expects to reimburse. AT&T has also revamped the process for accepting downloaded content, and users have to verify that they understand the terms with a text message. AT&T did not admit to any wrongdoing by settling the suits. Customers will be notified to check their status via a (free) text message.