Walter Hughes and other members under a click-on agreement titled “Terms of Service
Click-On Agreements. America Online, Inc. (AOL), provided e-mail service to Walter Hughes and other members under a click-on agreement titled “Terms of Service.” This agreement consisted of three parts: a “Member Agreement,” “Community Guidelines,” and a “Privacy Policy.” The Member Agreement included a forum-selection clause that read, “You expressly agree that exclusive jurisdiction for any claim or dispute with AOL or relating in any way to your membership or youruse of AOL resides in the courts of Virginia.”When Officer Thomas McMenamon of the Methuen, Massachusetts, Police Department received threatening e-mail sent from an AOL account, he requested and obtained from AOL Hughes’s name and other personal information. Hughes filed a suit in a federal district court against AOL,which filed a motion to dismiss on the basis of the forumselection clause. Considering that the clause was a clickon provision, is it enforceable? Explain.
