17.4 Click-On Agreements. America Online, Inc. (AOL), provided e-mail service to Walter Hughes and other members under
Question:
17.4 Click-On Agreements. America Online, Inc. (AOL), provided e-mail service to Walter Hughes and other members under a click-on agreement titled “Terms of Service.” This agreement consisted of three parts: a “Member Agreement,” “Community Guidelines,” and a “Privacy Policy.” The “Member Agreement” included a forum-selection clause that read, “You expressly agree that exclusive jurisdiction for any claim or dispute with AOL or relating in any way to your membership or your use of AOL resides in the courts of Virginia.” When Officer Thomas McMenamon of the Methuen, Massachusetts, Police Department received threatening e-mail sent from an AOL account, he requested and obtained from AOL Hughes’s name and other personal information. Hughes filed a suit in a federal district court against AOL, which filed a motion to dismiss on the basis of the forum-selection clause. Considering that the clause was a click-on provision, is it enforceable? Explain. [Hughes v. McMenamon, 204 F.Supp.2d 178 (D.Mass. 2002)]
Step by Step Answer:
Business Law Today Comprehensive
ISBN: 9780324595741
8th Edition
Authors: Roger LeRoy Miller, Gaylord A Jentz