AOL has avoided what was certain to be an entertaining court battle by settling with 48 states and the District of Colombia over allegations that it made it, uh, difficult to cancel for the many customers who were fleeing to broadband.

In the settlement AOL did not admit to wrongdoing but did promise to make it easier for its few remaining customers to cancel. AOL also agreed to pay $3 million. From the AP:

"Consumers who called were put on hold or transferred repeatedly until they hung up in disgust," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, [ed. note- Rock Star!] who described AOL's practices as "outlandish and underhanded."

The settlement requires AOL to issue refunds to consumers who can show they were still charged monthly fees after trying to cancel their services. AOL's fees currently range from $9.95 to $25.90 per month. Tiede said the multistate investigation didn't estimate how much money AOL might have to refund.

AOL to pay $3M, reform cancel policies [Yahoo!]
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