WorldGroups.com Responsible Media Technologies, Deceptive trade practices: Charging credit cards for free services Las Vegas Nevada

On Oct. 28, 2006, I applied for the free membership option at the adult social networking site www.worldgroups.com (WorldGroups). This website is owned and operated by Responsible Media
Technologies, LLC (RMT), a business registered in Nevada. However, the principals mostly live and operate out of Florida, and the company maintains a Mailboxes, Etc. postal drop box at 63 Remuera Road in Auckland, New Zealand. RMT uses a Florida-registered company (with many of the same principals, e.g. Allan Hadhazy) called WebPower, Inc. to handle billing for WorldGroups. In addition, RMT may also do business as WGB, LLC, a Florida-registered company.

WorldGroups makes use of the adjective "free" to describe a level of membership to the website's contents (examples: "Join for Free," "please complete the form below to activate your free WorldGroups registration," "Free Registration Form," "You will not be billed for basic free registration," "Confirm Free Registration). At the end of the registration process, an applicant must provide credit card information which, the site says, is for "restricted use; for confirmation only" (understood to be age or identity confirmation). However, the site's Terms and Conditions, available for review only upon reaching the final step of the registration process, contain mention of a $1 USD charge to the applicant's credit card,
refundable as a "courtesy" only if the applicant explicitly calls and requests it.

In my case, I did not notice the link to the Terms and Conditions, and was led to believe from the conspicuous statements on the site that the credit card would be used for confirmation only and that I would not be billed. So when I discovered on 11/28/06 that my card had been billed $1.00 by RMT's billing agent, I felt deceived and wronged.

I contend that the use of the term "free" on the WorldGroups website is deceptive, misleading, and unlawful according to the FTC's "Guide Concerning the Use of the Word 'Free' and Similar Representations," 16 C.F.R. Sec. 251.1. This guide states in subsection C, "Disclosure of Conditions,"
the following:

"When making "Free" or similar offers all the terms, conditions and obligations upon which receipt and retention of the "Free" item are contingent should be set forth clearly and conspicuously at the outset of the offer so as to leave no reasonable probability that the terms of the offer might be misunderstood. Stated differently, all of the terms, conditions and obligations should appear in close conjunction with
the offer of "Free" merchandise or service. For example, disclosure of the terms of the offer set forth in a footnote of an advertisement to which reference is made by an asterisk or other symbol placed next to
the offer, is not regarded as making disclosure at the outset."

WorldGroups.com does not set forth "clearly and conspicuously" that the $1 will be charged at the "outset of the offer," and obviously the terms and conditions do not appear in "close conjunction" with the many uses of the word "free" to describe the level of membership.

Note: a substantially similar complaint was filed for Webpower, Inc. since it is difficult to discern who bears the brunt of responsibility for this scam.

Carl
Albuquerque, New Mexico
U.S.A.