Spamming, or sending unsolicited messages in bulk, continues to be a problem with e-mail and it has in recent years also entered the mobile domain. The cost of sending SMS or even MMS messages has become so low that it is viable to extend spamming to mobile messaging also. The term “spam” is derived from the 1970 Spam sketch of the BBC television comedy series “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”. Check it out from YouTube , it’s pretty good.

When compared to e-mail spam, mobile spam can be even more irritating to customers because of the more personal nature of SMS than e-mail and also because of the consumers may be charged for mobile messages received in some markets and when roaming. According to ENISA expert Pascal Manzano more than 95% of all e-mail traffic was spam in 2009. I could not find the figure for mobile messaging. It would be very interesting to know that.

Of course, different countries have taken different approaches in curbing the spam. EU has pretty much made spamming illegal but in some countries it continues due to non-existing legislation, insufficient sanctions or because of lack of enforcement of the rules. EU took a pretty strict line and introduced consent-based marketing back in 2002. That requires consumers to “opt-in” before they can be sent SMS or MMS messages from an unrelated party. So you will need to consent to receiving messages rather than you needing to “opt-out” from messages that would otherwise be sent to you. Continue reading » Spam leaves a nasty taste for consumers