A group of interrelated businesses will pay more than $1.2 million to settle charges alleging that they charged for unwanted Web site services on the phone bills of small businesses and nonprofit groups, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday.

The settlement stems from June 2006 charges from the FTC, which alleged that the companies crammed the unauthorized charges onto phone bills when, in many cases, the small businesses and nonprofits did not know they had the Web site services. The defendants used telemarketers to make cold calls to small businesses and nonprofits, and offered a supposedly free 15-day trial of Web site design services, the FTC said.

The companies took nearly $25 million from customers, according to the FTC.

The customers were told there was no charge or obligation, and that the Web site services would be cancelled automatically if not approved. The defendants made "verification recordings" that implied that the consumer agreed to be billed for the offer after the free trial, when they did not, the FTC said.

Whether the consumers agreed or not, their phone bills were often charged, the FTC said. When consumers called to dispute the charges, the operators told them they had "verification recordings" of an employee authorizing the charges.

The FTC complaint alleged that the defendants violated federal law by charging consumers' telephone bills without obtaining their authorization or consent. The FTC also alleged that the defendants violated federal law by deceptively claiming that if a customer agreed to a free trial Web site, the site would be cancelled automatically unless the customer agreed to continue it.

Last month, a judge from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston ordered a halt to the operations, appointed a receiver to oversee the business operations and froze the defendants' assets, pending trial. Defendants named in the FTC complaint include: WebSource Media, BizSitePro, Eversites, Telsource Solutions, Telsource International, and six individuals.

An amended complaint filed later added defendant WebSource Media, a successor to WebSource Media. The stipulated orders announced Wednesday settle the charges against all the defendants except one individual.

The orders include suspended judgments of $24.7 million, the full amount of consumer losses, which were reduced based on financial documents produced by the defendants detailing their ability to pay. The settlement orders call for individual and business defendants to give up $1.2 million.

If the judge determines that financial documents were falsified, the entire $24.7 million will be due.

The settlement prohibits the defendants from several practices, including misrepresenting that a free trial will be automatically cancelled if the purchaser does not agree to continue the service.