Increasing use of text messaging has raised several policy issues...
Increasing use of text messaging has raised several policy issues that may come up in Congress this year, said a recent Congressional Research Service report. One concerns whether the Can-Spam Act, aimed at controlling junk e-mail, could apply to…
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unwanted text messages. Text messaging was an infant technology when the law was written, CRS said, so it isn’t clear whether the law could apply. What is outlawed is spam sent to a mobile phone via e-mail. There are two bills pending that would ban mobile spam: HR-1391, proposed by Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., and S-788, by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. Wireless customers have expressed frustration to Congress over their inability to disable text messaging, the report said, another issue that may get some attention. Carriers are starting to offer blocking options, the report said, but “Congress may wish to investigate whether customers are being offered the best possible options to assure that they are not receiving unwanted text messages.” Texting while driving is another issue likely to gain attention on the Hill. Two bills (S-1536, HR-3535) would reduce highway funding to states that don’t adopt laws prohibiting texting while driving. Privacy issues with texting could be another focus, given increased calls for public release of text messages used in conducting government business. “One of the arguments against disclosure of text messages emerging from public officials is that certain delivery platforms should … be private because the official owns them,” the report said, noting an upcoming Supreme Court case, Quon v. Arch Wireless, that deals with an employer’s ability to review its employees’ text messages on company-provided devices.