Two Oregon companies that were peddling magazine subscriptions to Idahoans have agreed to stop doing business in Idaho, under a settlement with the Idaho Attorney General’s office. Under the settlement, approved by a court yesterday, Liberty Publishers Service Inc. and Orbital Publishing Group Inc., agreed to stop mailing high-priced renewal offers to subscribers who were misled into thinking the offers came from the magazines’ publishers; the companies are now prohibited from offering magazine or newspaper subscriptions in the state or collecting debts from the sale of magazine or newspaper subscriptions. 

Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said complaints from consumers about the companies dated back several years. “My Consumer Protection Division raised new issues with Liberty Publishers Service earlier this year,” Wasden said.  “After we contacted the company, executives worked cooperatively with my office to remove itself and any associated entities from the Idaho marketplace.”

 The companies, which operated under nine separate business names, also agreed to pay $500 to the Attorney General to offset investigation costs. Here are the nine business names: Allied Publishers Services; Associated Publishers Network; Associated Publishers Services; Magazine Billing Network; Publishers Billing Association; Publishers Billing Exchange; Publishers Distribution Services; Publishers Periodical Services; Publishers Service Exchange; and United Publishers Services.