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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."

3 of 28 comments (clear)

  1. So does this mean that.. by rusty0101 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ... if I set up a system to monitor several servers, or routers, that sends me a status message on device down events, or periodically sends me an update that things are looking good, and the company I did this for lets me go without stopping the notifications, can I take the company to small claims court and get myself $500 for each such notification?

    I kind of doubt it, but it might help defray the lost wages...

    --
    You never know...
  2. So does this mean... by Timeburn · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If my email inbox is forwarded to my phone via SMS, does that mean I can sue for normal spam?

    On the other hand, I've seen arguments here that this is because SMS is a paid service (e.g. a quantifiable cost, unlike email). But what if I only get my email through my cell phone?

    Cingular charges by the k for data use, so suddenly there's a quantifiable cost for my email. Does this mean that the door will open here for normal spam?

    Though frankly, I won't really be happy until Congress rewrites drug laws into spam laws. Possesion with intent to distribute (SPAM) gets you 10-20 sort of a thing.

    --
    "Not one shred of evidence points to the notion that life is serious" -- Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain
  3. We have worse shit in the UK to deal with. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    My dad got hit by a scam that basically pulls money out of your account if they send you a message. It was £3 per message, and it went on for weeks. He eventually got a complete refund, but after tons of phone calls and letters.

    The "service" provider is SMS Digital Future, and here are the fucking scaming bastards