Turning up the heat on premium mobile service providers
We’ve previously talked about premium mobile services being a regulatory hotspot for 2009. We’ve got the ACCC getting cranky about it, a proposed new code from the Comms Alliance and ACMA beating up mBlox and TMG Asia Pacific.
In a sign that things are going to stay hot (and probably get hotter) for premium mobile service providers, ACMA has now launched Federal Court proceedings against Mobilegate Ltd (a Hong Kong company), Jobspy Pty Ltd, Winning Bid Pty Ltd and individuals associated with those companies for breaches of the Spam Act and Trade Practices Act.
According to ACMA’s media release, those companies allegedly sent unsolicited SMS messages (which fall under the ambit of the Spam Act) through a premium rate shortcode advertising a premium mobile service. They are also alleged to have obtained contact details of users of dating websites by deception and tricked users into replying to SMS messages at a cost of up to $5 per message.
ACMA is asking the court to impose declarations, injunctions and penalties. The maximum penalties for breaches of the Spam Act and Trade Practices Act are substantial, running into the millions.
We’ll keep an eye on this and keep you posted.
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[...] reported in January 2009 that ACMA had launched legal action against a bunch of companies and individuals [...]