Bluetooth Spam In Public Spaces

mrwireless writes with a bellwether from The Netherlands of a problem that is bound to spread. Judging by the CAN SPAM Act, the US would be even less likely than the EU to classify Bluetooth-borne commercial spam as spam. "The Dutch OPTA, a national telecommunications watchdog, has decided not to label commercial Bluetooth messages as spam (in Dutch, but Babelfish works). These messages seem to fall through a loophole in European laws against spam since they do not travel through an 'intermediary network.' The issue was raised last week when a Dutch broadcasting agency outfitted a number of bus stops so they would send a promotional video of an upcoming show to passersby. Although the messages first asked if people wanted to watch the video, the article quotes a lawyer who believes that this does not qualify as 'opt-in' advertising. As more and more people leave Bluetooth turned on to make use of their Bluetooth headsets, Bluetooth close-range messaging, such as through bluejacking, is increasingly being exploited for commercial purposes."

Comments

A bluetooth ad I received

[Ace905]

I was 1.walking down Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and my 2.RIM started vibrating. I was really surprised to find I had received an advertisement. An advertisement that I did not request, and definitely did not want to see. It was just a link to a web page but even still, it was very upsetting.

3.I think we need to get on top of this problem before it gets out of hand. Bluetooth marketing is going to go viral in very short time. 4.Once someone realizes that they can offer this type of advertising medium to the less-tech-savvy businesses out there with simple technology, everybody is going to jump on board. Not because it's particularly effective, but because it is particularly CHEAP. Just like mass email marketing ; but technically-involved enough to cut out the average small and even medium-sized businesses from doing it themselves. Instead of silently advertising, the concept of bluetooth spamming is going to be promoted and marketed by marketing companies.

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Footnotes:
1 : This never happened.
2 : RIM sounds like a synonym for anus.
3 : I don't really think that, I hardly care.
4 : Surprisingly, this statement is actually true.