> STOP text
spam
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) head Ronald O.
Solis promised to closely monitor mobile phone companies amidst
the deluge of consumer complaints against the unwanted spam
messages. (Philippine Daily Inquirer, March 13, 2006)
This column thinks that said action was long overdue. A year ago,
we repeatedly discussed similar concerns brought to the attention
of this column by irate and exasperated cell phone users. I even
called it the corporate “Text Load Robbery” since unsuspecting
consumers become helpless victims to said racket that rake
millions of pesos everyday!
Cell phone users usually complain that they continue to be billed
for unsolicited incoming messages without their consent. On the
other hand, cell phone companies deny billing clients for these
spam messages, and often blame their content providers for these
activities.
Nevertheless, NTC should hold the cellular phone companies
principally liable since the third-party content providers use the
networks of the said companies, and that both parties share in the
revenues from these messages! And to facilitate easy monitoring
and regulation, the NTC should also require these content
providers to register with the commission.
We hope that the new set of NTC rules that will be discussed in a
public hearing in the coming days will strengthen earlier
guidelines that will prevent cellular phone companies from sending
more text spam once the recipient has signified his intention not
to receive further messages.
In fact, most consumers are annoyed receiving many unsolicited
messages anytime of the day, and the inconvenience of always
having a full “inbox”. Adding insult to injury, the hapless
consumers are charged and made to pay for it. THIS IS A STICKUP.
This shameless sham must be stopped immediately!
***
Meanwhile, the consumer group TxtPower criticizes “push” marketing
that the carriers themselves initiated. Push marketing contains
promos, invitations and gimmicks that subscribers have not asked.
According to Anthony Ian Cruz, convener of the group, push
marketing allows carriers to send out “unwanted” text messages to
subscribers, without giving them enough information about their
contents. “The carriers usually send this promo inviting
subscribers to reply or to register to avail themselves of the
promo. What most subscribers don’t know is that they are being
charged for merely replying via text messaging,” Cruz said.
Although subscribers can easily ignore push marketing, these
carriers may be violating privacy laws, because of the “abuse” of
personal data from subscribers. “Some carriers ignore the intended
use of this private information. They sometimes use this
information for other purposes, including sending out spams, or
unwanted messages, through SMS,” Cruz said.
Cruz further believes that money churned out by carriers from push
marketing could reach astronomical sums. He saids a mere one
percent of the more than 30 million subscribers unwittingly
replying to these promos could easily churn out millions of pesos
daily. ( Source: Online article written by Joel D. Pinaroc)
***
CONSUMER UPDATE: This columnist formally filed a complaint with
the DTI against South Star Drug on March 15, 2006. (Please read
March 16, 2006 issue of this column entitled “Price Tag
Violation”).
Said complaint was immediately endorsed on March 17, 2006 by DTI
Provincial Director Edna Tejada to Dr. Claro S. Madayag, head of
the Bureau of Food & Drug of the Department of Health (BFAD-DOH)
for immediate action.
By the way, March 15 was the World Consumers Rights Day.
Let us celebrate it by staying vigilant and zealous of our rights
as consumers throughout the year.
QUOTE
“Those who want to destroy the freedom of nations will have to
start with the freedom of the press.” - Benjamin Franklin
