Washington State residents have joined the growing list of litigants filing
class action lawsuits against America
Online Inc.
The Washington suit claims that America Online (AOL)
knowingly released its 5.0 software without warning that the installation
would change a computer’s dial-up networking properties and TCP/IP settings.
The suit also claims that AOL’s predatory software prohibits its customers
from connecting to the Internet through other Internet service providers.
Seattle attorney Steve Berman filed the Washington suit in King County
Superior Court. Renowned for his expertise in national class-action
lawsuits, Berman filed suit under the Consumer Protection Act.
Berman said that AOL 5.0 software seizes upon unsuspecting users computers
to prohibit them from using other Internet services.
“Users who installed AOL 5.0 expected that they were going to get 500 free
hours of faster, better Internet access,” Berman said. “But what really
happened was that their computers were unknowingly sabotaged so that they
could no longer use any Internet service other than AOL.”
Berman alleges that the start-up software is a brazen attempt by AOL to
hold customer’s hostage as long as they are connected to the Internet. He
said that customers might not readily change the settings once the
installation is complete.
“Once the software was up and running, it changes so many of the systems
configurations, the average user had no hope of connecting with anyone else
other than AOL,” Berman said. “Many who tried to unwind the installation
found that it was almost impossible since it affected more than 200 files.”
Rich D’Amato, AOL spokesperson, said the lawsuits have no basis in fact or law.
“The 5.0 software provides users with the ability to select AOL as their
default Internet connection, but only if they make the choice to do so,”
D’Amato said. “It’s designed to provide a more stable online environment,
but it doesn’t prevent users from accessing the Internet through another
provider.”
The final step in the AOL 5.0 installation process allows users to select
AOL as their provider of choice. By doing so, users override settings that
would permit access to other ISPs.
In order to repair a computer’s dial-up properties after installing the AOL
5.0 upgrade, users must re-program their device manager settings. After
selecting the network adapter area and double clicking on the AOL adapter,
a user may modify the device properties of their connection. If they
operate with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
Windows 95 or 98, users must disable the AOL adapter in order to surf
the Internet and still connect to AOL.
The lawsuit is the fourth action filed against America Online this
month. Lawyers filed class-action lawsuits in Virginia and California on
behalf of 8 million AOL customers using the 5.0 release.
Three independent Internet service providers filed suit against AOL in
Baltimore City Circuit Court last week alleging that the latest version of
its software cripples existing Internet accounts with rival service providers.
Berman is managing partner of Hagens Berman. His practice adept
in class action law suits, as Berman represented 13 states in suits against
the tobacco industry.
If the class action suit were approved, Berman would represent all AOL
users in Washington State who subscribe to the service and installed AOL
5.0 software. According to Berman, the exact number of people affected by
this is yet unknown, but could number in the tens of thousands.
