Maine Attorney General Janet Mills is calling a new law to protect consumers from deceptive free trial offers the first of its kind in the nation.

Mills joined Gov. John Baldacci on Thursday to cheer his signing of the legislation in early March.

Under the new law, companies offering free trial periods of goods or services must confirm billing information directly from the consumer at the time the consumer accepts the offer.

Mills says her office has received hundreds of complaints from consumers who accepted a free trial offer and unknowingly committed to monthly or annual credit card charges.