A federal judge in the Eastern District of New York has held that a consumer was not bound by an arbitration provision found in a website’s terms and conditions. The judge reached this decision after noting that:

(1) the link to the terms and conditions (which was not visible unless the user scrolled down to the bottom of the screen) was not prominently displayed;

(2) the website did not prompt the consumer to review the terms and conditions; and

(3) viewing the terms and conditions was not required to effectuate the consumer’s purchase.

See Hines v Overstock.com, Inc., No. 09-cv-991, 2009 WL 2876667, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81204 (ED NY filed September 8, 2009).