Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

SMS Cellphone Spam Declared Illegal

Posted by michael on from the we-hates-it dept.

TCPALaw writes "The FCC has just released an order that reiterates that SMS spam messages to cellphones are illegal under the existing Telephone Consumer Protection Act and now also under the CAN-SPAM Act. Each such unsolicited message you receive without permission entitles you to take the sender to small claims court and collect a minimum of $500 for each violation. They said this in 2003, and now have reiterated it. To quote: 'In 2003, we released a Report and Order in which we reaffirmed that the TCPA prohibits any call using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded message to any wireless telephone number. We concluded that this encompasses both voice calls and text calls, including Short Message Service (SMS) text messaging calls, to wireless phone numbers.' The order is in 3 parts, one, two, and three."

6 of 28 comments (clear)

  1. It would certainly be worth your while to test by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 2, Informative

    And I'd give you 50/50 chances in court. But you'd better keep a damn good log of the notifications.

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  2. does this apply to AT&T spam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Does this apply to your own provider's SMS spam ? I know AT&T sends messages every now and then, and it's annoying as I use SMS for emergency alerts.

  3. Re:This is moot though. by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Not entirely true- many SMS providers such as Verizon, TMobile, Sprint and AT&T provide e-mail addresses that are linked to the SMS system. Of course, any e-mail to those addresses gets truncated at 160 chars- but just look at slashdot sigs which get trunc'd at 120 chars. Well written spam COULD get through- if you tried hard at the writing. And basically free to the sender- though likely 10-15 cents a message to the receiver if it isn't in their calling plan.

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  4. Re:And the rest...? by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 2, Informative

    It isn't if you were smart enough to put your number on the Federal DNC list- I haven't had a *sales* call since last October, on either home or cell.

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  5. Re:So does this mean that.. by macdaddy · · Score: 2, Informative

    I doubt it. You have a prior commercial relationship with the sender and unless you explicitly tell them to stop the transmissions you would have no basis for a complaint. Tell them to stop and they don't and you'll have something to complain about. It's really quite simple. The same applies to spam. Establish a commercial relationship with Company X and they can start sending you commercial messages. Tell them to stop and they must. If they don't then you can complain.

  6. Re:So does this mean... by macdaddy · · Score: 2, Informative
    If my email inbox is forwarded to my phone via SMS, does that mean I can sue for normal spam?

    Nice idea but I'm afraid not. The intended recipient is your email address, which is where delivery takes place. Forwarding mail to your cell phone is one of your own actions. It's like forwarding your home phone to your cell. Telemarketers can't call your cell but they can call your home (unless you tell them not to or sign up for the DNCL). It's not possible for the telemarketer to know that his call to your home ends up getting forwarded to a restricted number, your cell. Just like it's not possible for a telemarketer to know that a number they dial that's not on the DNCL will be forwarded to one that is. The forwarding is your own action and not the fault of the sender.