Australia's direct marketing group seeks SMS curbs

SYDNEY: The Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) and the Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF) are supporting a call for controls on unsolicited messages on short messaging services, or SMS. The association's chief executive officer, Rob Edwards, said it was clear consumers disliked unsolicited messages and that marketers are wasting their time if they are aiming at unresponsive customers. The two bodies' concerns come after a spate of complaints to telecommunications providers about the growing number of unsolicited SMS messages, prompting both to work on a code of practice to control its use. The ADMA and the ACIF believe that a voluntary code of practice will be enough to correct any abuses because its members have no wish to lose actual and potential customers. Australia has a comparatively small volume of SMS messages currently, but Edwards believes that the industry needs to be proactive in its stance against potential abuses. He added that consumer sensitivities are likely to be heightened this year with the implementation of rules nationwide about individual privacy principles that were passed in 2000 and come into force in December.

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