Press Release: Consumers: EU clampdown on ring-tone scams

EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva announced the results of an EU-wide investigation into websites offering mobile phone services such as ring-tones and wallpapers. The enquiry, which was carried out on more than 500 websites across the 27 Member States, Norway and Iceland, found that 80% of the sites checked need to be further investigated for suspected breaches of EU consumer rules. Many of the websites target children and young people. Problems found included: unclear price information where prices are incomplete, did not include taxes or customers are unaware that they are signing up to a subscription. Large numbers of websites do not provide some of the required contact information about the trader. Other problems related to misleading information where key information is hidden in very small print or hard to find on a website or the word "free" is used to mislead consumers into a long-term contracts. The breaches varied in the degree of seriousness. More than 495 million mobile phones are owned by Europeans. Ring-tones alone were estimated to make up 29% of the overall 'mobile content' market in Europe in 2007 (about 10% higher than 2006). The value of European ring-tone sales in 2007 was estimated at €691 million. Seven countries Norway, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Iceland, Romania, Greece) are publishing the names of the websites which they found to have irregularities

European Commission: MEMO/08/516: EU crackdown of ringtone scams. Frequently Asked Questions http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/08/516&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

European Commission: SPEECH/08/395: Ringtone scams investigation http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/08/395&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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