European Union rings in the changes on rip-off ring-tones

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 17th Jul 2008

Elspeth Attwooll MEP has today condemned rip-off websites that sell ring-tones and other mobile phone services, as new research shows that as many as 80% may be in breach of EU consumer rules.

All 27 EU Member States performed a "sweep" of these websites in June, and found multiple problems across the board, including unclear pricing, misleading advertising and dubious offers targeted at children.

Elspeth Attwooll, Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland, said:

"These scams are outrageous. Many are targeted specifically at young people and even children who think that they are buying a single ring tone and then find out that they are committed to buying one every day at £1.50 per day.

Just think that there are as many phones as people in the European Union - so huge amounts of money are being made through these dodgy practices".

She added:

"These companies will keep operating until action is taken, so until it is make sure that you keep reading the small print so that you don't get fleeced".

Notes:

The European Commission press release is available at:

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/1169&type=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en