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SEATTLE (AP) -- A company that sells software for starting online businesses has agreed to pay $175,000 in a settlement with the Washington state attorney general's office.
Attorney General Rob McKenna says StoresIOnline, a subsidiary of iMergent in Orem, Utah, made it seem that anyone could start an online business overnight, regardless of whether the customer had a computer or knew anything about the Internet. He accused the company of using high-pressure sales tactics, charging as much as $6,000 for six Web sites.
StoresOnline agreed to pay $75,000 in restitution, $25,000 in penalties and $75,000 in legal costs.
StoresOnline also has been sued by attorneys general in at least six other states and been taken to court by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in the past five years.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
