Knowledgeable sources tell us that the FCC has hired Steven Seagal, along with hundreds of highly-trained stealthy ninjas to carry out the swift and irrevocable execution sentences.

“Let’s face it, when a consumer gets a marketing text that they didn’t sign up for, they want to kill you. We’re just doing the job for them,” a government official who refuses to be named in light of the sensitive subject matter tells MMW.

MMW has learned that ninjas have already been deployed across the U.S. and stand ready to bring justice to countless unscrupulous mobile marketers who have spammed one too many smartphones.

“The TCPA ninjas, led by Mr. Seagal, are extremely well trained,” the government official tells us. “Collateral damage should be minimal.”

There’s no word on how many non-compliant mobile marketers have already been sent on their way to an eternal dirt nap, but for those who continue to violate the TCPA, justice is coming. And there’s no way to opt-out.

Steven Seagal was asked for comment, but he spoke so quietly we couldn’t make out a single word. However, he and his pony tail looked super serious.

The bottom line? Make sure your mobile marketing is compliant, or you’ll find yourself marked for death, and on deadly ground, and… [insert another Steven Seagal movie title here].

And from all of us here at Mobile Marketing Watch, happy April Fool’s Day!

The post Mobile Marketing Compliance Violations Now Punishable By Death Via Steven Seagal appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

“Victoria’s Secret undertook a misguided effort to increase sales by causing the mass transmission of spam text message advertisements in the form of mobile alerts,” Michael Hannegan alleges in a potential class-action lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Hannegan accuses Victoria’s Secret of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which can result in damages of $1,500 per unwanted ad-related message.

“Hannegan alleges that he agreed to receive messages from Victoria’s Secret in May, but that the company said it would send six messages per month,” reports MediaPost. “Any additional messages beyond the first six … were unauthorized and sent without plaintiff’s consent,” Hannegan noted in his complaint.

The lawsuit does not indicate if all the messages were identical, but the complaint does say that the messages all contained “a generic non-personalized advertisement.”

Hannegan is seeking class-action status on behalf of all cell phone users who received more than six messages per month from Victoria’s Secret.

Since a Victoria’s Secret spokesperson said the company doesn’t comment on pending litigation, the company’s response is so far … well … a secret.

The post Victoria’s Secret Sued for Sending 100 Unrequited Text Ads to California Man appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

In one of the cases, the debt collection agency Select Resources Group was sending debt collection-related communications. These were apparently robocalls. However in this particular case the plaintiff’s cellular phone provider was billing the plaintiff for these ‘robocall-style communications’.

Coca-Cola was using text messages when they were hit with a class action law suit. The suit mentions that even though some plaintiffs replied STOP to the text messages they continued to receive unwanted texts. Here is the specific language from the law suit:   “The SMS messages included material to promote the sale of Coke products, such as an advertisement for Coke Zero, which plaintiff Robbins received. Robbins replied using the word “STOP”, but continued receiving text messages.”

That is a BIG no-no! Once a STOP message is sent to any short code then the owner of the code must a) immediately remove that cell number from receiving any further texts and b) are allowed to send one final message in response to the STOP request informing the end user that they have in fact been removed from future messaging.

I’m not quite sure who else uses fax messaging anymore but apparently Burger King does and they got into some hot water for doing so; I guess they cannot ‘have it their way’ after all…

Be they texts, faxes or automated phone calls there are but a few simple things to remember about messaging to your audience:

1. Make sure you have their written consent to do so.
2. If they ask you to stop messaging them then make it a high priority to honor that request.
3. Be aware that your marketing messages can potentially result in charges to your end users.

The post Taking a Look Back at Some Past TCPA-Related Lawsuits appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

What to do? A Mobile Marketing Association webinar will provide both answers and insight. The webinar — “FCC Proposes New TCPA Laws – What Every Retailer Needs to Know About The Telephone Consumer Protection Act” — is set for Wednesday, August 5 from 1 to 2 p.m. (CDT).

It’s especially timely.

“On June 18 the FCC issued new requirements for those engaged in text and telemarketing,” reports the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), sponsor of the free webinar. “What do these new rulings mean to your company? Is your company at risk when making automated outbound calls or sending texts? Is your company taking the right steps to mitigate TCPA risks?”

The MMA is working with partner Neustar, a good source of authoritative information. Federal Trade Commission veteran and Neustar Chief Privacy Officer Becky Burr will be one of the presenters. She’ll be joined by Neustar’s Adam Russell, who will discuss how authoritative consumer intelligence is helping to mitigate risk while also driving operational efficiencies.

Webinar topics include: what retailers need to know about the FCC’s new regulations under TCPA; best practices for mitigating TCPA compliance risk; why verifying consumer data is critical to both risk mitigation and operational efforts; and how the constant change in consumer data requires the most extensive, up-to-date, and accurate data.

To register or to learn more, click here.

The post What Every Retailer Needs to Know About the TCPA, Reducing Litigation Risk appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

“Retailers face considerable challenges in complying with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA),” reads the webinar overview. “Over the last few years, the cost of non-compliance has risen dramatically due to the rapid increase in the amount of litigation around TCPA and the very large settlements associated with class action litigation.”

If you’re not familiar, just last week the FCC issued new requirements for those engaged in text and telemarketing.

What do these new rulings mean to your company? Is your company at risk when making automated outbound calls or sending texts? Is your company taking the right steps to mitigate TCPA risks?

These are the questions posed. The answers will come during the July 14th webinar presented by the MMA and Neustar.

FTC veteran and Neustar’s Chief Privacy Officer, Becky Burr, will address the current regulatory landscape. Also, Neustar’s Vice President Dorean Kass will discuss “how authoritative consumer intelligence is helping to mitigate risk while also driving operational efficiencies.”

To learn more or to register to attend, click here.

The post MMA Webinar to Focus on FCC Proposal of New TCPA Laws appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

First of all there are just a few different ‘carrier approved’ methods in which a marketer can collect an SMS database; Enter a phone number online, Click a button on a mobile webpage, Send an MO message containing an advertised keyword and Sign up at a POS location.

Each of these methods of cell phone collection is acceptable by the carriers and falls under the term ‘express written consent’ which is now a strict requirement according to the newly amended TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act).

For this blog post let’s get into the first two methods listed above; enter a phone number online and Click a button on a mobile webpage. These are basically web form opt-ins; a website that has a registration form and there is a space for entering ones cell number. When using a web form in this manner there are two rules you must follow:

1. You must display the proper ‘carrier required language’ in close proximity to the cell phone submit field (box).
2. You must verify the handset (cell phone) owner’s possession for the actual handset number being submitted in your cell phone number ‘submit’ box.

In a nutshell, items 1 & 2 simply mean that you need to let subscribers know some basic program details and then send a confirmation text to the cell number being submitted to you. Number 1 can be accomplished by adding a couple simple lines of text ‘in close proximity to’ the cell submit field. There are several items that you need to include in this ‘carrier required’ language:

• Program Description ( Alerts, News, Special offers etc.)
• Messaging Frequency ( 5/messages a week, 2 messages a month)
• Messaging costs (Msg & Data rates may apply)
• A link to ‘comprehensive’ SMS T&Cs or Privacy Policy
• If the Program is recurring then STOP instructions are required
• Help instructions

All of these items can be summarized very succinctly into a few lines of text that look like this:

• mobileStorm Weather Alerts: News and Forecasts for local weather. Msg&Data rates may apply. 4 msg/mo. Text HELP for Help or text STOP to end messages. Terms & Conditions. View our Privacy Policy.

As far as Item number 2 is concerned, “Verifying handset owner possession” this is simply a matter of sending handset an immediate confirmation text message as soon as a cell number is submitted on your web form. This confirmation message needs to contain all the above bullet points listed for the web form registration and must have a ‘Reply Yes to confirm your subscription’ call to action.

Sounds like a lot of work? Well, the good news is that mobileStorm can do both of these things for you automatically. Our web forms can be easily enabled to send a confirmation message and we have customized boilerplate language on our web forms that include all the necessary carrier required language. This article is just the first in a multi-part series on how to acquire, message to, advertise for and maintain a healthy, opt–in SMS Database. Stay tuned for more!

The post How to Properly Collect an Opt In SMS Database (Part 1 of 2) appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The company has been accused of sending SMS messages to consumers without first inviting them to join their service, and the recent ruling to toss their dismissal argument allows the class-action lawsuit filed by Illinois resident Kevin Sterk to proceed.

Filed in March 2013, Sterk’s complaint alleges that the social networking service violated TCPA laws by sending SMS ads using auto dialers without first getting permission from recipients. In his complaint Sterk alleges that an unsolicited text was sent to him by Path telling him that another Path user wanted to show him photos on the service’s website, and that the same message also had a link to that website with instructions on how to register and join.

Path argued that, since their company was relying on “human intervention” and only sent messages to people whose phone numbers were provided by the already existing Path users, they weren’t using an automated dialing system.

U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan disagreed with their argument.  He ruled that “The undisputed evidence shows that the equipment used by Path’s agent made calls from the list without human intervention,” adding “It is such calling that the section of the TCPA at issue in this case covers, not the collection of numbers for storage.”

Path has a number of other arguments pending, but this round definitely goes to the US District Court.

The post Evidence Shows that Path Violated TCPA with Mobile SPAM appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

New provisions in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) introduced these tighter restrictions on mobile marketing and mobile messaging.

Almost overnight, the revamped rules wrought confusion upon marketers uncertain of how these changes and corresponding mandates would impact their mobile marketing efforts.

In response to the new laws of the land, Mobile Marketing Watch, along with our sister sites mHealthWatch and mGamingWatch, hosted an emergency webinar last fall for marketers and related professionals across numerous industries who must urgently educate themselves on a variety of emerging issues related to consumer privacy, location based services, and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

The webinar, which featured expert insight from attorneys Ross Buntrock and Michael Hazzard of Arent Fox, Rip Gerber of Locaid, and Jared Reitzin and Darren Withers of mobileStorm, is now available to view online.

As a follow up to the well-received webinar, mobileStorm has just published a new whitepaper tackling the critically important issue of mobile marketing compliance.

So what exactly should you be doing in order to make sure that your policies and practices are in compliance with these confusing and controversial new rules? A good start would be to download the comprehensive guide to mobile marketing compliance at no charge from mobileStorm here.

The post mobileStorm Publishes New Whitepaper on Mobile Marketing Compliance appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

On October 16th, the FCC began enforcing a strict new set of rules pertaining to calls and text messages directed at consumers on their mobile phones.

The new rules, for example, require marketers to gain written consent from a consumer prior to adding that consumer to a mobile marketing campaign. This mandate, however, has proven confusing, controversial, and a counterproductive burden thrust upon responsible mobile marketers.

The paramount problem, mobileStorm contends, is that millions of Americans have already provided permission to receive promotional text message communications from the businesses and brands they know and trust.

On December 2^nd, mobileStorm submitted comments to the FCC in support of the arguments and objectives put forward by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), and a broad coalition of mobile engagement providers.

In the post, mobileStorm asserts that greater clarification and guidance from the FCC are essential to reduce consumer confusion, ease burdens on businesses (many of which are small businesses) that would be forced to expend more time and resources re-securing the consumer permissions they’ve already painstakingly secured, and also curb the likelihood of frivolous class action lawsuits stemming from the ambiguous language found in the TCPA.

To read the complete post on mobileStorm’s Digital Marketing Blog, click here.

The post mobileStorm Stands Up for Mobile Marketers in Comments to the FCC appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

On October 22nd, at 11:00 a.m. PST, Locaid will lead a thought-provoking discussion about the strategies and best practices associated with optimizing location-based mobile marketing to earn more and accelerate business growth.

The anticipated topics for discussion include the evolution of location-based marketing, the importance of an integrated mobile strategy, why leveraging location should be a primary targeting strategy, the best practices to optimize location-based marketing, how and when to leverage geofences to deliver results, and the importance of location + analytics.

To learn more or to sign up for the Locaid webinar, click here.

In case you missed it, last Thursday Mobile Marketing Watch, along with our sister sites mHealthWatch and mGamingWatch, hosted an emergency webinar for marketers and related professionals across numerous industries who must urgently educate themselves on a variety of emerging issues related to consumer privacy, location based services, and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

To check out MMW’s webinar, click here.

The post Locaid Webinar to Offer Valuable Insight on Location-Based Mobile Marketing appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.