Users Deserve Control

WirelessWeek is reporting today that a judge is allowing the lawsuit against T-Mobile by disgruntled subscribers to proceed. The subscribers are fighting charges against unsolicited text messages because they have no viable way of avoiding the charges.

http://www.wirelessweek.com/T-Mobile-Subscribers-Sue-Text-Messages.aspx

While T-Mobile is headline news today, this issue is an industry wide problem. A class action lawsuit was filed earlier this year federal court against AT&T, Sprint, et al. http://www.rcrnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080516/FREE/480711860/1017/rss01

It’s simple really. Users want and deserve control over their services. I find it really annoying when some marketer decides to spam me with an unwanted text message.It’s intrusive at the very least. It can also be expensive. For those without a good text plan, the cost could be upward of 15 cents for every spam received. Mobile subscribers have a right to be upset that they have no way to avoid paying for unwanted text messages.

Imagine the uproar if carriers charged you a dime every time somebody called, whether you talked to them or not. And the carriers would not let you subscribe to a no-call list or block callers! People would be furious. Why would we expect mobile phone users to be any different?