Court shuts down online business listing operation
A U.S. judge has shut down an online business listing operation that allegedly bilked more than US$14 million from U.S. small businesses and churches.
Judge Virginia Kendall of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, issued a temporary restraining order against the Canadian operation Monday at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's request.
The operation sold unwanted business listings, calling them yellow page listings, to U.S. businesses and organizations, the FTC said. The operation, based in Montreal, has generated more than 13,000 complaints, the FTC said in a news release. The defendants include 15 related companies located throughout the U.S. The defendants weren't immediately available for comment.
