Florida Attorney General - Volume 7, Issue 3

Publication of the Office of the Attorney General • Volume 7, Issue 3 • January 23, 2009

Enforcing new standards in the mobile content industry

This week, the CyberFraud Section of my Economic Crimes Division reached a $1 million settlement with a major marketer of mobile content, which includes ringtones, cell phone wallpaper, games and other downloads for cell phones.

Over the past year, my office has received a large number of complaints about the mobile content industry. My CyberFraud Section opened a widespread investigation which revealed thousands of cell phone consumers had received charges on their cell phone bills for third party services they did not authorize. Often, these charges were for ringtones which were advertised as “free,” but resulted in customers unwittingly being signed up for costly monthly subscriptions.

Every time mobile content is purchased, the person making that purchase deserves to know what he or she is getting and will ultimately end up paying. Our efforts in this area have led to the development of new standards which require companies to clearly and conspicuously disclose the true cost of ringtones and other content in all online advertising. These compliance standards are leading the nation in reigning in the mobile content industry and holding all parties accountable.

Attorney General McCollum issued a statement on the unexpected passing of Claudine Ryce, the mother of Jimmy Ryce and a pioneer in the efforts to help locate missing children.

Albert Andre Zimmerman, a former state spokesperson for the Florida Department of Children and Families, pleaded guilty to one count of a federal charge of production of child pornography. Zimmerman, 41, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Florida Attorney General McCollum; and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge for the Miami Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced a Washington State defendant has been sentenced to 27 years in prison on federal charges related to child pornography. Richard Grass was sentenced last night by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks for the Southern District of Florida. In addition to his prison sentence, Grass must also serve five years of supervised release.

Attorney General McCollum issued a consumer advisory warning Floridians to be on the lookout for tax-related scams. Complaints about fraudulent tax preparers are reported to the Attorney General’s Office each year, as are issues with identity theft and fraudulent charities. The Attorney General also advised consumers to ask about service fees up front and avoid tax preparers who claim they can obtain larger refunds than anyone else.

Attorney General McCollum announced his office has reached a $1 million settlement with a major mobile content marketer over allegations related to improper billing of mobile content. California-based Mobile Messenger Americas, Inc. markets mobile content for cell phones and operates as a billing aggregator for mobile content promotions. The settlement requires the company and its clients to comply with the Attorney General’s industry-leading guidelines on specific disclosure of pricing and subscription terms in the online marketing of mobile content.

Attorney General Reaches $1 Million Agreement with Major Mobile Content Marketer

Attorney General Encourages Consumers to be Conscious of Scams as Tax Season Approaches

Attorney General's Statement on the Passing of Claudine Ryce

Former State Spokesman Pleads Guilty to Production of Child Pornography

Federal Miami Judge Sentences Defendant to 27 Years on Child Pornography Charges

Attorney General Bill McCollum's bi-weekly audio message for this week is available online at the following link: http://www.myfloridalegal.com/PodCasts.nsf/on/SCOS7NKRXN. Please note, the Attorney General's Office is no longer using Clickcaster to support podcast messages. All subscriptions will need to be re-entered through http://myfloridalegal.com/podcasts.nsf/pub.

In honor of National AMBER Alert Awareness Day the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is working to raise awareness across the state about the role of citizens in the search for a missing child. Time is of the essence in a child abduction case…and tips from the public can be the factor in bringing a missing child safely home.

If you haven’t already, please consider signing up at http://www.missingchildrenalert.com to receive AMBER Alerts via e-mail and cell phone text messages. It only takes a minute and there is no charge to receive alerts.

Please pass along this website to your family and friends and ask them to sign up to receive alerts as well.