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SMS opt-out made easier

Paul Vecchiatto
By Paul Vecchiatto, ITWeb Cape Town correspondent
Cape Town, 30 Mar 2007

The Wireless Applications Service Providers Association (WASPA) will next week publish an amended code of conduct to make it simpler and cheaper for consumers to opt out of subscriptions.

Pieter Streicher, who sits on WASPA's code committee and is MD of BulkSMS.com, says service providers used different opt-out systems that were confusing to consumers. This also placed the service providers at risk of prosecution under the Electronic Communications and Transactions (ECT) Act, he notes.

"Service providers, by not giving clear instructions on how to opt out, have been running the risk of facing penalties of between R10 000 and R20 000 in terms of the ECT Act. However, this new 'STOP' procedure makes it clearer for everyone," he says.

The amendments, to be published on the WASPA Web site, will allow consumers to SMS the word "STOP" to cease receiving messages from any service provider. If the reply could pertain to multiple services, either all the services should be terminated, or the recipient should be given a choice of service to terminate. The STOP procedure must be included at the start of any message, for example: "Reply STOP to opt out".

A second part to the change is that recipients of premium-rate or non-replyable messages must have the option to opt out at a cost of R1 or less. This opt-out instruction must be included in every commercial premium rate or non-replyable message, for example: "SMS STOP to 32xxx to opt-out."

Streicher says the maximum charge of R1 is there to cover the charge levied by the network operators, which are unable to distinguish between a normal message and an opt-out message.

This new procedure replaces the current convoluted system whereby a consumer who wants to opt out of a service first has to go to the SMS code Web site to find the WASP's short code (the five-digit number that replaces the whole cellular number), and then call the service provider.

If no satisfaction is gained that way, the consumer then has to lodge a complaint with WASPA.

Brendan Hughes, a lawyer with Michalsons Attorneys, says the ECT Act allows for unsolicited transmission of SMSes, provided the sender offers a mechanism to unsubscribe, but the law does not say how.

"South African consumers are becoming more aware of their rights in this issue," he says.

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