Bloomberg reports that Canada’s Prime Minister will be allowing telecoms industry regulators to “ban fees for unsolicited text messages on mobile phones and other ‘unfair charges.’” While that seems like a pretty narrow scope, consider that (with history as a guide) “unfair charges” is an extremely flexible term. It could spell the end of outrageous overage charges like a quarter per text, which one could argue are “unfair” given the extreme disparity between that cost and normal cost. This is assuming, of course, that you are Canadian, which I’m sure most of you out there are.
It’s part of a push on the PM’s part for consumer rights, an area sorely needing attention in the US, where frivolous claims are rewarded with millions while legitimate concerns like arbitrary bandwidth caps aren’t given a second look. Another reason to move to Canada — unless of course you have an iPhone.
This was the first I’ve heard of this, but it sounds great – I have a plan with TELUS. The thing is, it’s true there is not much cell phone spam here in Canada, although I did get the first spam just 2 days ago and I’ve had the number since last Dec. The thing is, we have our federal election in a few short weeks, and may have another minority government, in which case I would not be surprised if the bill wouldn’t pass, as the opposition parties will vote against it because, well, just because that’s what they think they have to do as The Opposition.
Hopefully the law will be adapted from its original purpose. Cell phone spam is hardly a major problem, but maybe someone will use the provisions of this bill (if it passes) to do something real.