Techdirt has a story on the ATT American Idol text spam that I and many others received today. ATT responds by saying that it wasn’t spam because it was sent to people who previously voted in American Idol contests and other so called “heavy texters.” I’ve heard some mind boggling arguments in my day, but that may take the cake.
First of all, it’s clearly spam by any rational definition of spam. Additionally, ATT must have a pretty low threshold for what constitutes a “heavy texter.” I have never watched one second of American Idol, much less voted for a contestant. My kids text me some on their iPod Touches- maybe three or four times a week. If that makes me a heavy texter, then just about everybody is one.
Of even greater concern is the potential for companies, legitimate and not, to start tossing unwanted crap in our face via text messages. Spam has completely killed faxing- I unplugged my fax machine long ago because of all the bullshit fax spam from travel agencies and health insurance brokers. It takes a ton of work and technology to stop email spam at the inbox gate- I get about 1000 spams a day at home, compared to maybe 20-30 legitimate emails.
I do not want text messaging to turn into another battleground for my privacy and peace of mind.
If companies start text-spamming me, they are going to lose my business. I think we should start a no text-spam movement. Maybe by collective action, we can stop this menace in its tracks.
