Amendments – Notices required

In the first U.S. appellate court decision to address the issue, the Ninth Circuit has ruled that a provider of long distance phone service may not change the terms of its service contract "by merely posting a revised contract on its website." Since the provider did not show that it had given the subscriber any notice other than the posting, the Ninth Circuit struck down a lower court's order to compel arbitration based on a clause of the modified contract. The court's ruling sets an important precedent, and highlights the importance of giving subscribers clear and prompt notice of all contractual revisions.

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