Gladbeck Local Court, 18 October 2011, Ref.: 12 C 267/11
We have often reported on subscription traps and their effects here. Due to the extensive use of the Internet, more and more people in Germany are falling victim to these scams.
The operators of such websites offer a wide variety of services ostensibly free of charge, only to charge high costs afterwards on the basis of supposedly concluded subscription contracts.
The services offered include, for example, route planners, free SMS services, intelligence tests, search engine optimisation services, genealogical research, mobile phone tracking, etc.
Another interesting judgement in the area of subscription traps was made in October 2010 by the Gladbeck District Court under the above-mentioned case number.
FactsThe plaintiff in the above-mentioned case is the operator of a website which, according to its own statement, offers "access to the largest outlet & factory outlet database".
The defendant registered on this website, giving his personal details, in order to use the services of this website.
The plaintiff was now of the opinion that a subscription contract had been concluded between the parties and sued for payment of the outstanding fees.
Gladbeck Local CourtThe Gladbeck District Court dismissed the claim in its entirety and agreed with the defendant's view that a subscription contract had never been concluded.
In the opinion of the Gladbeck District Court, the contract had already failed because the defendant, insofar as he had registered himself, had not been sufficiently informed of the chargeable nature of the offer by the misleading design of the website.
The defendant had thus been deceived as a consumer and did not have to adhere to the contract.
The website was designed with the registration form in such a way that there was only a note in small print at the top right indicating that it was a paid subscription offer with a two-year term and annual costs of €96.00.
In particular, in the court's view, in order to protect the consumer, it could be expected that the sign-up button, which in the plaintiff's view was responsible for the conclusion of the contract, would contain an explicit reference to the fact that there was a chargeable offer instead of "sign up now".
This could easily be achieved by labelling the button "Register now for a fee" or similar.
In the court's view, the design on the website could only have the purpose of deceiving the consumer and persuading him to click on the link in the mistaken belief that it was a free registration.
In its brevity and clarity, the judgement is another good contribution to putting a stop to subscription traps on the Internet.
Source: Gladbeck Local Court
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