Cybersocket Settles IBill Advertising Dispute

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – As the list of disgruntled webmasters and advertisers begins to mount against troubled payment processor iBill, Cybersocket won a recent victory based on two claims for non-payment of advertising filed in Los Angeles Superior Court’s Small Claims division.

The first claim was filed in December for $5,000 in unpaid advertising and the second one, for the same amount, was filed in January.

Cybersocket President Morgan Sommer told XBiz that he received a cashier's check from iBill last week in the amount of $10,000, in exchange for dropping the lawsuit.

Included in the settlement was the fee that iBill owed its ad agency, which Cybersocket would have been stuck footing the bill for, Sommer said.

Sommer attributes iBill's settlement to the exposure in the adult press, which he believes inspired iBill to come forward and pay up, rather than face increased webmaster scrutiny.

"Within ten days, it was resolved," Sommer told XBiz. "We owe it to each other as an industry to help resolve these issues together and let each other know what the problems are and how we have found solutions to them. I'm not saying everyone should sue iBill, but filing a suit and working with our friends in the press has yielded good results."

Sommer said that the business relationship with Deerfield, Fla.-based iBill had lasted six years and began to fall apart in September when iBill lost credit card processor First Data and began a gradual downward spiral into financial chaos.

In a previous interview with XBiz, Sommer said that iBill's recent financial problems have significantly impacted the industry, citing one company in particular that was owed between $300,00-500,00 by iBill.

“We trusted them, and now some are closing up shop," Sommer said. "This company has gutted the ability for some of the industry to function.”

Sommer added that several other lawsuits against iBill are currently being processed by Miami-based law firm Buchanan Ingersoll, P.C., and several adult companies with similar grievances against the payment processor are sharing discovery information.

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