The Fine Line Between Legitimate Think Tank... >>
<< Microsoft And Motorola Go All In With Patent...
 tdicon 

Email

by Mike Masnick

Thu, Nov 11th 2010 6:29pm




Filed Under:
rolling stone, spam, text messages

Companies:
wenner media


Rolling Stone Sued For Text Messaging Spam

from the a-text-message-gathers-no-moss dept

Rolling Stone publisher, Wenner Media, has been hit with a class action lawsuit over spam text messages that were used to aggressively promote Rolling Stone, US Weekly and Men's Journal. Of course, it's not clear that this is actually illegal. The lawsuit is based on a law that forbids the automatic dialing of marketing phone calls to mobile phones, but it's not clear if that actually applies to SMS messages as well.

10 Comments | Leave a Comment

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

  1.  
    identicon
    out_of_the_blue, Nov 11th, 2010 @ 7:05pm

    Splitting hairs.

    It's *marketing* to a *phone*.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Nov 11th, 2010 @ 7:05pm

    text message spam is even worse than phone spam... I'm amazed if it isn't illegal, it should be because it costs people money to receive and you have no choice.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  
    identicon
    James, Nov 11th, 2010 @ 9:23pm

    Whether its legal or not

    Anyone who engages in spam, text, email, etc., should be shot.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  
    icon
    harbingerofdoom (profile), Nov 11th, 2010 @ 11:35pm

    Re: Whether its legal or not

    thats far to kind a sentiment

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  
    icon
    willbates (profile), Nov 12th, 2010 @ 12:36am

    Re: Whether its legal or not

    It definitely should be illegal but in any case I have no idea why companies would do it, it's just annoying and makes consumers hate their brand!!

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Nov 12th, 2010 @ 4:48am

    25c a text that I never asked for and do not want. YES, Should be illegal and I hope they lose the case against them!

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  7.  
    identicon
    Richard Kulawiec, Nov 12th, 2010 @ 4:58am

    Re: Whether its legal or not

    I don't know if you're serious or just venting, but I've actually constructed (elsewhere) a serious attempt at an argument that spamming should be punished by the death penalty. As you might guess, this isn't very popular with spammers, their associates, their supporters, their suppliers/consultants/vendors, etc.

    What few people seem to grasp yet is that spammers are sociopathic monsters; that's why, as I've often said, there is no such thing as an ex-spammer. (Every now and then someone mistakenly claims to have spotted an example of one. It inevitably turns out that the spammer has just migrated to a different form of abuse -- see "Spamford Wallace" for the canonical case study.)

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  8.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Nov 12th, 2010 @ 7:05am

    I want to sue the Republican and Democratic Parties for spamming me during election. They call you, email you, text you and make you numb watching television. I hate them. They suck.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  9.  
    icon
    Sean T Henry (profile), Nov 12th, 2010 @ 7:28am

    Re:

    If it costs you money to receive text messages GET A NEW PLAN. I have never been charged to receive txts even when on some of the phone card plans. If they charge you to receive the service sucks.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  10.  
    identicon
    Gene Cavanaugh, Nov 12th, 2010 @ 9:41am

    SMS and autodialing

    If it doesn't, it should.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


Add Your Comment

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Save me a cookie
  • Note: A CRLF will be replaced by a break tag (<br>), all other allowable HTML will remain intact
  • Allowed HTML Tags: <b> <i> <a> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <hr> <tt>
The Fine Line Between Legitimate Think Tank... >>
<< Microsoft And Motorola Go All In With Patent...
 tdicon 
Follow Techdirt
Flattr rss rss
A word from our Sponsors...
Sponsored Resource
Essential Reading
Techdirt Reading List
Techdirt Insider Chat

A word from our Sponsors...
Recent Stories

Friday

7:39pm: Rice University Professor: SkyNET's Gonna Take Ur Jerbs! (7)
6:33pm: Make Art, Not Law (7)
5:27pm: AP's Attempt At DRM'ing The News Shuts Down (7)
5:00pm: DailyDirt: DIY Junk Food (2)
3:40pm: Suburban Express Goes Double Or Nothing On Their Aggressive Behavior (6)
2:34pm: Want To Destroy Any Hope Of Serious Cybersecurity? Give The DOJ Its Desired Backdoor Wiretaps On All Communications (14)
1:34pm: Nintendo Exchanges Goodwill For Control; Issues Mass Monetization Claims On Let's Play Videos (27)
12:32pm: Indian Publishing Firm Can't Take A Little Criticism, Threatens Blogger With $1 Billion Lawsuit, Criminal Charges (8)
11:29am: Lots Of People Don't Turn Off Their Devices When They Fly (90)
10:32am: Bogus Lawsuit Plus Threats To Those Who Write About It Leads To Epic Response (55)
More arrow
A word from our Sponsors...

Close

Email This