AGCM

PRESS RELEASE

INTERNET: ANTITRUST AUTHORITY LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO UNFAIR COMMERCIAL PRACTICES BY EASY-DOWNLOAD.INFO WEBSITE

In collaboration with Special Units of the Guardia di Finanza (Italian Tax Police). Proceedings against Eurocontent Ltd., a German company. Complaints lodged by hundreds of consumers. Nearly 4 million 500 thousand euros in fines for unfair practices on the internet between 2009 and 2010.

The Antitrust Authority has decided to launch an investigation into the possibility of unfair commercial practices by Eurocontent Ltd, a German company. The decision was founded on the hundreds of complaints received from individual citizens and consumer associations, including: Altroconsumo, Adiconsum, Aduc, Codacons and Unione Nazionale Consumatori and Federconsumatori.
In 2009 and 2010 alone, the Antitrust Authority issued 4 million 450 thousand euros of fines for unfair practices in which the website registration mechanism was used to induce consumers unknowingly to subscribe to various service contracts.
The complaints testified to how the www.easy-download.info link would come up whenever the name of a software application and the word "gratis" or "gratuito" [free] were entered into the Google search engine.
Clicking the link then led consumers directly to this website's registration page instead of its home page. By entering their information, in essence, consumers were unknowingly subscribing to two-year contracts with Eurocontent Ltd, a German company that provides software for an annual fee of 96 euros by payment in advance once a year. In contrast to the home page, which presents the terms and conditions of the contract quite clearly, the registration page exhibits these terms graphically in ways that are not easily and readily comprehensible. In essence, consumers are led to believe that the service is free.
With no other notification to consumers about the establishment of such contracts, the German company proceeded to solicit payments once the period allowed for contract nullification had expired.
The Antitrust Authority, in collaboration with Special Units of the Guardia di Finanza (Italian Tax Police), is deepening their investigations in search of other responsible subjects, given that the easy-download.info website is actually registered in Arizona.

Rome – 12th July 2010