In a judgement dated November 3 and filed in Queensland, Justice Kiefel declared a related company, Australis Internet, and World Publishing Systems, had also breached the Trade Practices Act. In addition, he ruled Dataline's managing director, John Russell, was knowingly involved in the misleading acts of all three. Several staff also admitted they were aware of the company's deceptive conduct.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) initially lodged proceeding against the companies in 2001. According to the industry watchdog's spokesperson, it pursued action after receiving numerous email complaints about Dataline. Both Dataline and Australis are in liquidation.According to the court's findings, Dataline engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct by representing that:

*Dataline was entitled to make charges against customers' credit card accounts where it had no authority or contractual basis for doing so;

*Dataline was entitled to make charges with respect to its customers' use of its Internet services when the customer had ceased to access them;

*Customers could purchase unlimited access to Dataline's services, when Dataline had limited the ability of customers to access those services; and