Court Rules Against Arbitration In Lawsuit Vs. ISP Stemming From NebuAd Partnership

A court has handed a defeat to Internet service provider Bresnan Communications in privacy litigation stemming from its partnership with defunct behavioral targeting company NebuAd. In a ruling issued last week, US District Court Judge Richard Cebull rejected Bresnan's attempt to send the potential class-action lawsuit to arbitration. Bresnan had argued that consumers had agreed in a clause in their subscriber agreement and acceptable use policy to resolve all disputes in arbitration, but Cebull ruled that the term wasn't valid. "The agreement was presented by defendant to plaintiffs on a take-it-or-leave-it basis," he wrote. "The arbitration provision in the agreement was not conspicuous nor was the consequence of accepting it explained to plaintiffs. Plaintiffs were not sophisticated business persons that could have been presumed to know and understand the effect of an arbitration provision." The decision is just the latest in a string of court rulings stemming from NebuAd's ill-fated behavioral-advertising partnership with Internet service providers.