Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Papa John's Sued For Unwanted Pizza-Related Texts

Posted by samzenpus on from the spam-spam-spam-pizza-spam dept.

jfruh writes "Nationwide pizza chain Papa John's is finding itself on the receiving end of a $250 million text spam lawsuit. From the article: 'Seattle law firm Heyrich Kalish McGuigan, representing three Papa John's customers, alleged that the pizza delivery service has sent 500,000 unwanted text messages to customers. If the court finds that Papa John's violated the U.S. Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the pizza maker could have to pay damages of $500 per text message, or US$250 million, one of the largest damage awards under the 1991 law, the law firm said. "Many customers complained to Papa John's that they wanted the text messages to stop, and yet thousands of spam text messages were sent week after week," Donald Heyrich, attorney for the plaintiffs said in a statement. "This should be a wake-up call to advertisers. Consumers do not want spam on their cell phones."'

3 of 418 comments (clear)

  1. The law says... by iYk6 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The law says that you aren't allowed to spam cell phones with commercial advertisements. No opt out necessary.

  2. The FCC is soliciting comments on this topic. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, the FCC has a currently open comment period on how to address automated system for sending spam texts to cell phones. See http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7022037251

    With this Public Notice, we seek comment on the petition for an expedited clarification and
    declaratory ruling filed by Revolution Messaging, LLC.1 Revolution Messaging asks the Commission to
    clarify that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)2 and the Commission’s related rules3 apply
    to users of Internet-to-phone text messaging technology and similar technologies involving the storage
    and automatic dialing of wireless telephone numbers.4 Revolution Messaging states that such a ruling
    would make clear that Internet-to-phone text messaging technology is a type of “automatic telephone
    dialing system” under the Commission’s rules and is therefore subject to the prohibitions in the TCPA
    and the Commission’s related rules.

    Anyone can file comments urging the FCC to make clear that such systems should be considered a type of “automatic telephone dialing system” under the Commission’s rules.

    Read the full petition here: http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7022037252

    File comments on the FCC ECFS system, the docket number to use is "02-278". http://http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/upload/

    And although the deadline is close, the FCC is generally fairly liberal in allowing and considering late-filed comments.

  3. Re:Papa John by jackbird · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, the clusterfuck that ended up being the ACA was an attempt to get republicans on board. The actual sickly-sweet loving liberal version is single payer, like, you know, the rest of the developed world. And small business owners should be first in line to ask for it (perhaps only after large corporations with large retiree healthcare expenses), but somehow they've all been convinced it's anathema.