Freeserve has placed adverts in UK newspapers accusing
Chancellor Gordon Brown of furthering the interests of AOL with
favourable tax breaks. Earlier this month, Freeserve threatened the
government with European legal action over the alleged
favouritism.
The Freeserve adverts claim that, “every year at least $30
million is lost to the Treasury because AOL, a $36 billion turnover
corporation, doesn’t pay VAT on it’s ISP business in the UK.” It
points out that this money could be used to benefit the NHS and
schools.
Meanwhile, in the US, AOL is to face a class action lawsuit
accusing the company of deceptive advertising. The lawsuit is being
brought by AOL customers in Florida and Kansas who claim that the
company advertised packages with fixed rate monthly fees which were
subsequently increased without any prior notification. Last week,
the customers bringing the action were given approval for their
class action.
