April 8, 2001 – Moves are being made to stop mobile spam in its tracks before it gets out of hand and into every handheld.

Just as Internet-based email created, seemingly overnight, an avalanche of spam mail, so it seems mobile-based applications like SMS could become a means for drowning users in unsolicited junk alerts.

Making the possibility more acute in the U.S.: the October Federal Communication Commission mandate for emergency 911 mobile services, which will employ location-sensitive technologies to pinpoint callers for emergency response teams.

While it's estimated that 30 percent of all 911 calls are made from wireless phones, the obvious need is being overshadowed by concerns from consumers and their advocates that e-911 will open the floodgates for advertising-based spam. Currently, FCC rules say that carriers can only disclose a user's location with their express consent. Still to be determined: the extent of the "opt-out" capabilities the government agency will eventually accept, since e-911 is aimed at life-saving efforts.

Also raising red flags over privacy: new "ping" technologies. Pinging would allow, for example, merchants to send a promotion or other ad-based alert to handheld users while they're in the store – or walking past it.

Industry Groups Take a Stand

Lessons already learned about email spam – as well as heightened consumer savvy about the power of electronic technologies – may help divert the potential for a wireless spam crisis. These solutions are being addressed at all levels: government, private and public.

Last fall, the newly formed Wireless Advertising Association (WAA) asked its members to adopt guidelines for privacy and, notably, recommended that opt-out should be the de facto standard for wireless push advertising.

Said WAA Chairman Tim DePriest, "At the dawn of the wireless era, it is vitally important for us to set a thoughtful tone for the business so that the concerns of all parties involved, especially consumers, are addressed."

In Europe, the Wireless Marketing Association moved in the same direction and got three carriers – BT Cellnet, Vodafone and Orange – to sign on, in spirit at least: they say they will refrain from creating spam themselves, but not ban spam over their networks.

Governments Take a Closer Look

Government agencies aren't waiting for industry-based solutions. Numerous complaints about SMS spam led the Dutch telecommunications regulator in February to begin an inquiry on how to deal with – and perhaps ban – the practice. The report, by Onafhankelijke Post en Telecommunicatie Authoriteit (OPTA), is expected this month.

In the U.S., Congressman Rush Holt, Democrat-N.J, has introduced HR 113, the so-called "Wireless Telephone Spam Protection Act."

The bill, which would amend section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934, would make it illegal to transmit "unsolicited commercial messages" using the "text, graphic, or image messaging systems of wireless telephone systems."

Noting that the U.S. has an estimated 1 million SMS users, the bill states that "the percentage of people in the United States who subscribe to such a service will increase in the future" and that advances in the technology have made it "increasingly easy" to send these messages to wireless devices. "Prudent consumer protections must keep pace with advances in communications technology to ensure protection of privacy and personal time," HR 113 concludes.

The European Union is also looking into ways of addressing the mobile spam threat, a process that involves coordinating regulations through all 11 members of the EU.

Industry Solutions

As HR 113 makes its way through Congress, counter-attacks against m-spam are being waged by wireless companies.

Unimobile has added a filtering process to its enterprise-based Mobile Messaging Platform (MMP). The company says its solution addresses three key scenarios: carriers will be able to identify spam deliveries; enterprises will be able to filter messages based on content and key words, and users, through either their carrier or company, will have access to "opt-in" capabilities.

Also announcing m-spam control features, Brightmail, through a mailwall built into its message management suite.

Consumer Test Case

Perhaps the most well-covered incident of m-spam occurred last month in Phoenix, Arizona, when an AT&T Wireless user began receiving SMS alerts over his mobile phone from a mortgage company – alerts that also cost him money. Like mobile voice, the cost of SMS deliveries is charged to the party on the receiving end of the call.

Rodney Joffe was not just any subscriber. He was the founder of Genuity, a Web-hosting company and ISP, which was sold to GTE Internetworking. He's also involved with direct-marketing and currently heads up a for-profit think tank and incubator, CenterGate Research Group.

Joffe aimed his arsenal of technical know-how at AT&T Wireless, complaining about the m-spam and letting the public know how easy the process can be.

Noted Joffe, carriers make it easy for potential spammers to do their job. SMS addresses are assigned by phone number via the carrier's email address. Since carriers get their numbers in the same prefix block, if you know one number, Joffe explained, it's easy enough to send an SMS alert to thousands of people by simply cycling through the prefix – 555-1212@carrier.com, 555-1213@carrier.com, and so on.

Drive Them Mad with Spam

The irritation that SMS spam can create is being used as a law enforcement tool.

Last month Amsterdam police began spamming stolen mobile phones with text messages that read, "This device is pinched. Purchase or sale is an offense," signed, "The Police."

The message appears on the stolen phone every three minutes, beginning as soon as the theft is reported.

Why SMS spam? Said a police official to Reuters, "The idea is to drive the thieves mad."

For More Information

U.S. Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE)

European Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE)

CAUBE.AU (Coalition Against Unsolicited Bulk Email, Australia)

Welcome to CAUCE India

The European Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email

Spam Laws: European Union/EEA

HR 113 Summary & Status for the 107th Congress