Freeserve, the free internet service provider owned by Dixons Group Plc, UK, has issued a writ for defamation against Compuserve, the ISP owned by America Online Inc. Freeserve claims that CompuServe told customers last year that Freeserve would eventually start charging for the service, to prevent them switching providers.
After attempting to resolve the situation out of court, Freeserve says it was unsatisfied with CompuServe’s undertaking to cease the alleged claims, and issued a defamation writ in response. The free ISP declined to comment further. AOL (UK) told ComputerWire that lawyers from both parties are currently in out-of-court discussions to resolves issues not germane to the original allegation.
In other free ISP news, investment bank Charles Schwab Corp is cashing in on the rapid consumer uptake of the internet in the UK. It launched its online stock trading service last June, and now claims to sign up 300 to 500 new customers a week, due in part to the proliferation of ‘free’ ISPs.
