The suit alleges that Rodale had a practice of sending unordered books to customers, then billing the customers, violating federal and state consumer protection laws.

The case could benefit tens of thousands of consumers across the nation that Rodale supposedly targeted.

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania. The suit alleges that Rodale had a program in which it sent mailings to consumers, asking them to buy an initial book. After the customer bought and paid for the first book, Rodale allegedly sent additional books that were not ordered.

When the customers balked at paying, ''Rodale unleashed an aggressive, sophisticated and effective collection campaign,'' according to court papers.

Federal and Pennsylvania laws allow consumers to keep merchandise as a gift if it was not ordered.

Rodale used a ''negative option marketing scheme,'' treating customers as if they've ordered the books unless they've taken steps to return them or taken steps to stop the books from coming, according to one of the attorneys involved in the case.

The case alleges that Rodale violated the federal Postal Reorganization Act, which provides conditions for sending unsolicited merchandise to consumers.