AT&T have been forced to pick up a $10m tab for supposedly-free ringtones, after Florida’s Attorney General Bill McCollum chose to hold the carrier responsible rather than chase the third-parties who falsely advertise the downloads.  As part of the settlement, AT&T will refund affected users as well as police further agreements between its subscribers and services offering such downloads, together with ensuring that any related charges are clearly itemised on monthly bills alongside instructions for cancelling.  The carrier looks to be only the first to come under scrutiny for facilitating third-party services; McCollum claims his office is currently investigating other cellphone companies to check to what extent they are allowing fraudulent billing, and if necessary will impose similar fines.

AT&T receive around 40-percent of fees made to ringtone providers, and McCollum has criticised the carrier for its “misleading billing”.  Above the estimated $10m compensation, they will have to pay $2.5m to the state and $500,000 toward consumer education on safe internet use. 

The case was prompted by hundreds of complaints to the Attorney General’s office; however in the process of the investigation AT&T were found to have received many thousands of such letters.