Illinois Federal Court Strikes Down Online Company’s Forum Selection Provision Contained In Licensing Agreement In Consumer Data Collection Spat

The best things in life are free, except for screensavers, games, and other software provided on-line that spy on your computer activity and gather your personal information, at least according to the consumer Plaintiffs in the recent data collection/privacy suit filed in Illinois federal court captioned Harris v. comScore, Inc., No. 11 C 5807, 2011 WL 4738357 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 7, 2011). The Plaintiffs in the case won’t be forced to litigate the action in Virginia after a federal court recently denied comScore’s attempt to enforce the forum selection provision contained in its licensing agreement.

The District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Honorable Chief Judge James Holderman presiding, recently denied defendant comScore’s motions to dismiss and transfer venue because he found that comScore’s forum-selection clause was not reasonably communicated to the plaintiff consumers. In doing so, the court found that the terms and conditions of license agreements for free software downloads require a higher standard of notice to consumers.

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