Legislator Plans to Ban Cell Phone Spam
U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-NJ, last week said he planned to introduce federal legislation banning the distribution of unsolicited text messages to cellular phones.The Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibits marketers from broadcasting prerecorded voice messages to cellular phones, but no such rule exists for text messages, according to a spokesman for the Federal Communications Commission. Live-operator telemarketing calls to cellular phones also are allowed.
A spokesman for Holt said the bill had not yet been drafted and that he would probably seek additional sponsors.
The spokesman said Holt decided to introduce the bill after several of his constituents complained about receiving advertisements from a New Jersey company called Plugout.com, which markets add-on products for cellular phones, such as decorative covers.
Plugout executives could not be reached for comment.
