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Conflict of Laws Keyed to Brilmayer
America Online, Inc. v. Superior Court of Alameda County
Citation:
90 Cal. App. 4th 1, 108 Cal. Rptr. 2d 699 (1st App. Cal. 2001)Facts
Defendant, America Online, Inc. (“AOL”), is a Virginia internet access provider. Plaintiffs, former subscribers of AOL, filed a class action lawsuit in California state court alleging that AOL continued to charge the Plaintiffs’ credit cards for monthly service fees after the termination of their AOL subscription. The complaint alleged violations of California’s Unfair Business Practices Act and Consumer Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”), common law conversion/trespass, and common law fraud. AOL moved to dismiss the case based on a forum selection clause contained in AOL’s Terms of Service agreement (“TOS”). The TOS also contained a choice of law provision designating Virginia law as the law that would govern any disputes. The lead plaintiff described the TOS on his home computer as being “densely worded, small-size text that was hard to read.” The district court rejected AOL’s motion to dismiss, and AOL filed a petition for a writ of mandamus.
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