m-SPAM Act of 2009
Key claim: A 2009 Senate bill would have narrowed which mobile texts count as commercial spam, exempted free carrier and phone-to-phone SMS, and directed the FTC to treat unwanted mobile commercial messages to Do Not Call numbers as abusive telemarketing.
Abstract
(S788 · 111th Congress) m-SPAM Act of 2009 - Amends the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 to exclude a message from the definition of “mobile service commercial message” (MSCM) if the message’s purpose is to: (1) facilitate or confirm a commercial transaction; (2) provide warranty, recall, safety, or security information about a product or service used by the recipient; (3) provide certain information to message recipients who have an ongoing commercial relationship with the sender; (4) provide information relating to the recipient’s benefit plan or employment; or (5) deliver goods or services to which the recipient is entitled. Amends that Act and the Communications Act of 1934 to exempt from a prohibition on sending unwanted MSCMs: (1) the sending of short messaging service (SMS) messages from one wireless device to another or from a mobile service provider to its subscribers at no charge; and (2) the sending of MSCMs by a mobile service provider to its subscribers at no charge (unless a subscriber has opted out). Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to revise the do-not-call registry provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule to: (1) consider commercial mobile service messaging practices that are costly or a nuisance to consumers; and (2) explicitly prohibit, as an abusive telemarketing act or practice, the sending of any MSCM to a telephone number that is both assigned to a commercial mobile service and listed on the do-not-call registry. Exempts such messages sent by a commercial mobile service provider to its subscribers at no charge. Latest action (2009-04-02): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Why this matters
The m-SPAM Act reflects a recurring policy question about how the CAN-SPAM Act and Do Not Call Registry apply to SMS marketing, and where the line sits between carrier-originated messages, person-to-person texts, and commercial bulk sends. Although unenacted, it foreshadows enforcement themes later handled through TCPA and FCC robotext rules, and clarifies the historical scope of mobile spam regulation.