Legal Question in Technology Law in North Carolina
Free pornography trial sites
I had signed up for a free membership to a site and was charged $40 for it. When i followed up on it, i was told this:
Dear Member,
Our records indicate that you joined to view the
free online picture galleries. Our records also indicate that you have
streamed and/or downloaded movie clip(s) which are not included in the free
membership to view the online picture galleries. The terms of service for the
free lifetime membership state that streaming and/or downloading movies will
immediately upgrade your membership. The upgraded membership allows full
access to the movie section, premium content of the site and the picture
galleries. The terms of service and download agreement, which were agreed to
upon membership for the free online galleries, are listed below for your
review. If you have any questions please contact customer service at
is this valid as there were no indications as to what part of the site was free, nor were said rules displayed to me.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Free pornography trial sites
It doesn't sound like you have a winner here. Their practice of making it all available, and not labeling the "premium" content as 'not included in the basic package' is underhanded, but my guess is that the TOS does address this.
You might argue that this is a "bait and switch" scam, but do you really want a public airing of the issues?
Re: Free pornography trial sites
This tactic is very common and the industry counts on the fact that most of their customers aren't willing to complain publicly. When you give your card information, just expect that you're going to be paying something.
Re: Free pornography trial sites
You say that the rules were not displayed to you, but this seems unlikely. Are you sure that it was not in the long legalese that most people never read when they just click the "Agree" button at the bottom? If you are certain that they are not displaying the true terms of the offer, feel free to contact me with the URL of the website so that I can verify that there is fraud.
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