The EU's second sweep of the mobile phone content market - ringtones, wallpapers and other services – has revealed that fourteen Bulgarian sites are guilty of breaking European directives and misleading consumers.
The European Commission said twelve out of all fourteen Bulgarian sites have been “cleaned up”.
The names of the sites have not been revealed.
In an 18-month "consumer crackdown" 300 websites were investigated and most were not operating properly, the European Commission said in a statement.
A total of 159 websites were "corrected" while a further 54 were closed down completely.
The three main problems identified by investigators were unclear pricing, incomplete trader information and misleading advertising, in particular, advertising ringtones as "free" where the consumer is in fact tied into a paying subscription, the commission said.
The sweep was prompted by hundreds of complaints, often from parents hit with a big phone bill after their children unknowingly subscribed to a ringtone or other service. Many of the sites target the young.
"This EU-wide investigation was a direct response to hundreds of complaints coming in from parents and consumers from many different EU countries," said Bulgarian EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva.
"Young people should not have to fall victim to scams like misleading advertising that lure them into ringtone subscriptions they thought were free," she added.
Kuneva urged parents to take more care over their children's access to download sites.
"Parents should not find nasty surprises in their phone bill, when their children by accident have signed up to more than they have bargained for," she said.
The European Commission said twelve out of all fourteen Bulgarian sites have been “cleaned up”.
The names of the sites have not been revealed.
In an 18-month "consumer crackdown" 300 websites were investigated and most were not operating properly, the European Commission said in a statement.
A total of 159 websites were "corrected" while a further 54 were closed down completely.
The three main problems identified by investigators were unclear pricing, incomplete trader information and misleading advertising, in particular, advertising ringtones as "free" where the consumer is in fact tied into a paying subscription, the commission said.
The sweep was prompted by hundreds of complaints, often from parents hit with a big phone bill after their children unknowingly subscribed to a ringtone or other service. Many of the sites target the young.
"This EU-wide investigation was a direct response to hundreds of complaints coming in from parents and consumers from many different EU countries," said Bulgarian EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva.
"Young people should not have to fall victim to scams like misleading advertising that lure them into ringtone subscriptions they thought were free," she added.
Kuneva urged parents to take more care over their children's access to download sites.
"Parents should not find nasty surprises in their phone bill, when their children by accident have signed up to more than they have bargained for," she said.
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