Waspa gets tough

By Nicola Mawson, Contributing journalist

Johannesburg, 29 Jul 2009

The Wireless Application Service Providers' Association (Waspa) is clamping down on dubious cellphone subscription services.

Yesterday, the organisation discovered an unnamed “rogue” international operator that said it was offering access to an R-rated movie online, and promptly shut it down.

Chairman Leon Perlman says people were asked to provide their cellphone numbers to receive a code that would then unlock the movie for access. However, there was no movie.

Perlman says the rogue operator was after cellular numbers to, presumably, bill people for content they will never receive.

Once Waspa's members were informed, they immediately shut down the chain. "We are looking for things before the SA public is affected." The scheme was also shut down in the US due to the association monitoring local and international cellular trends.

The independent non-profit association was formed in 2004 and represents the interests of organisations providing mobile application services in SA. It aims to provide a neutral forum for members to address common issues, as well as ensure end-users receive “world-class” services, it states on its Web site.

Growing problem

Waspa says there has been a spike in complaints around companies offering entry to quizzes or competitions. Anecdotal complaints heard by ITWeb include an IQ quiz on social networking site Facebook, which requires a cell number to get the results. The person taking the quiz is then signed up for a subscription.

Another is a scratch-and-win competition, where a card was distributed inside the Sunday Times. To enter, an SMS must be sent, which then signs the reader up for a subscription. Perlman says this competition has since been stopped.

He explains the code of conduct, which binds all Wasps, was changed in mid-year and now makes it an offence for companies to subscribe users by asking them to enter a competition.

Perlman says anyone caught doing his will be dealt with. "Strong action will be taken against anybody doing that."

The association changed its code as a result of the spike in complaints, says Perlman. "We felt it was causing more harm to the industry as a whole."

Its latest code, version 7.4, specifically states: “Promotional material for all subscription services must prominently and explicitly identify the services as 'subscription services'.”

The code continues: “A request from a subscriber to join a subscription service may not be a request for a specific content item and may not be an entry into a competition or quiz.”

Perlman explains membership is compulsory for Wasps, but not for the content providers. However, because the Wasps bear responsibility for the content, many of them insist the information providers sign up in order to mitigate risk.

This week, the committee will meet to see if any of the rules need tweaking, says Perlman. "Maybe some rule needs to be fine-tuned." He says the code must be dynamic due to the nature of the industry.

Underhand tactics

Steven Ambrose, MD of World Wide Worx Strategy, says it is illegal for wireless application service providers to get people to subscribe through a competition. “There are a lot of these smart alec-type stories.”

He calls for Waspa to have more teeth so that it can better monitor the industry. Ambrose says the association cannot act against non-members, and the networks do not have the capacity to monitor these competitions.

The problem is that it is easy to subscribe to these sorts of services because the technology is so simple to use. “It doesn't take much effort to get yourself into trouble,” says Ambrose.