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| 12 | SMS, MMS deemed ‘information services,’ removing them from heavier regulation | ----------- | |
| FierceWireless: Wireless | 2018-12-13 22:00 | ????0? | |
| Proponents to the classification as an information service said it will prevent wireless carriers from having to remove the types of filters and anti-spoofing measures they use to block spam. Opponents said it will give operators license to block texts if they don’t like the content or see messages coming from a competing service. In its petition (PDS), Twilio cited instances of wireless carriers blocking texts from Rebtel, an OTT international calling facilitator.“The FCC shouldn’t make it easier for spammers and scammers to bombard consumers with unwanted texts,” Pai said in a prepared statement. “And we shouldn’t allow unwanted messages to plague wireless messaging services in the same way that unwanted robocalls flood voice services. But that’s precisely what would happen if we were to classify text messaging services as telecommunications services and subject them to common-carrier regulation under Title II, as mass-texting companies and others have asked us to do.”Commissioner Michael O’Rielly said the classification as information services allows mobile service providers to better compete with WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and other over-the-top (OTT) apps that, according to at least one report, make up 75% of all text messages. Such OTT apps are outside the FCC’s regulatory jurisdiction, so they aren’t regulated; the ruling the commission adopted clarifies that text messaging services provided by wireless operators will be treated similarly.Commissioner Brendan Carr said the commission is just taking a “commonsense step” of clarifying that SMS and MMS text messaging services are, like WhatsApp, Snapchat and iMessage, not Title II telecommunications services. It doesn’t mark a sea change and simply codifies the status quo—one that has allowed innovative messaging services to launch and compete with one another, he said. “No one should mistake today’s action as an effort to help consumers limit spam and robotexts,” said Harold Feld, senior vice president at Public Knowledge, in a statement. “There is a reason why carriers are applauding while more than 20 consumer protection advocates—along with 10 Senators—have cried foul. This decision does nothing to curb spam, and is not needed to curb spam. It is simply the latest example of Chairman Pai’s radical agenda that puts companies ahead of consumers. We urge members of Congress to overturn this decision and ensure that wireless carriers cannot block or censor personal text messages.” -- ???????? | |||
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