ACMA cracks down on rogue mobile service operators
Want to know the date of your death? Or download a hilarious farting noise ringtone? Or learn the name of your perfect partner? These type of premium services are to face heavier regulation in a move which will also have a knock on effect for late night and pay TV advertising revenue.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has registered an industry code of conduct, meaning that from July 1, it will be legally enforceable.
Content providers will need to be registered and from next year, carriers will be obliged to provide a premium call barring option. The type of services covered include ringtones, wallpaper and games. There will also need to be a “double opt in” procedure.
The action has followed concerns that consumers – including children – have found themselves with costly service subscriptions without realising they are doing so.
There will also be tighter regulation around the advertising of these services.
“ACMA is aware of consumer and community concerns about some industry practices concerning mobile premium services,” said Chris Chapman, ACMA’s chairman. “With the announcement of our strategy today, we are raising the bar very significantly.”
ACMA said that the order for all services to be registered would lock out “rogue operators”
Advertisements for prtemium services targeting children under 15 will be banned while there will also be stricter rules about how charges are displayed in ads.
The type of advertisement that is legal under the current regulations:
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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They’ve certainly taken their time…
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This is about time. The premium content advertisers really do push the legal and ethical boundaries.
Their targeting of young people, some of whom are not even the bill payer, who use mobile phones for peer-to-peer connectedness, is aborant. The lower age group, tweens, I would argue, do not have the capacity to understand the ‘fine’ print, and do not understand that they incur ludicrous costs on a per-subscription basis when they text for these services, until they receive their bills!
The move too, from late night TVCs to cross promotion in Melbourne’s Herald Sun (have you seen the scratchie lift-out, where you match three symbols and text the number only to incur a $10 per 6 days subscription to claim your prize?) is clearly targeting an older audience. However, one could argue, with the current economic climate, the ‘reported audience of lower socio-economic demographics of the HS’ and the increasingly time poor average consumer, that these premium content advertisers are now praying on a new consumer-base. And, getting around this new ruling it seems.
It is a good first step by our regulators, however, I feel we need to also self regulate and educate our younger consumers about the realities of these ‘services’. The line between allowing them to advertise in some shape or form, and ‘saying that all advertising targeting under 15s is prohibited, is thin. We know advertisers will get around this. Look at alcohol advertising. They are self-banning ads targeting young people to appease Government and regulators, however, they are now launching ads featuring computer generated animals, and tones and themes which are clearly targeting younger consumers.
Let’s see how effective ACMA really are in this case…
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Having once had the experience of working for one of these providers, I was appalled at the energy they put into fighting the requirements for terms and conditions to be clearly visible and clearly state the nature of the subscriptions. I was then further disgusted by the then buyer beware attitude exhibited when parents of children who subscribed, not understanding what they were getting involved with called to get a refund.
Its a shame that level of energy was never considered in coming up with mobile products or services that provided value.
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