An Internet sex company has been fined ?10,000 after more than 370 punters complained that it had installed software on their PCs that connected them to a premium-rate phone line.
Punters said the dialler software appeared to download icons and set a premium rate number as the dial-up default without their knowledge or consent. This meant that many ran up huge phone bills when they went online - made worse because the service failed to disconnect once it had reached the maximum ?20 call limit set by premium rate regulator ICSTIS.
San Marino-based PB Communications SR denied that the dialler software could install itself and become the default connection on the users' PCs without their consent. It also disputed that calls could be made without the say so of users, explaining that calls could only be made if punters agreed to a disclaimer, set a PIN code and accepted the cost of the calls.
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just one question what are punters? or who?