Newest bull's-eye in spam wars: SMS
 Three
of Britain's mobile phone companies have announced that they have
adopted a code of practice, limiting the sending of unsolicited
text messages to mobile phones.
The code, drawn up by the recently formed Wireless Marketing Association
(WMA), declares that wireless marketing should only be sent to mobile
users if they first grant permission for it to be sent.
BT Cellnet, Vodafone and Orange have all signed up to the code,
but they will not be banning the sending of spam over their networks--they
will merely refrain from creating spam themselves.
The WMA has set up a customer complaints system as well as a consumer
protection committee, but admitted that its powers are limited.
 "We
are under no illusions that spam can be stopped, but we are taking
the most effective measure that we can," commented Steve Wunker,
WMA chairman.
The code reflects recent calls from the European Union that users
should be given the choice of opting in to marketing campaigns,
rather than having to deliberately opt out. A recent EU report estimated
that the handling of spam e-mails costs European businesses $9 billion
each year.
Wunker added that the use of Short Message Service (SMS) text messages
for marketing is attractive to businesses because it is cheaper
than standard mail marketing.
"Companies would rather spend 15p (22 cents) sending a text
message that the user cannot avoid reading than spend 30p (44 cents)
mailing out something that would go straight in the bin," said
Wunker. However, he added that major brands "would not want
to harm the relationship they have with their consumers" and
are therefore likely to be careful in the way they approach e-mail
marketing.
Separately, amendments made to the Criminal Justice and Police
Bill last week are set to make it an offence to send hate mail by
e-mail or text messages.
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