New limits on cell phone spam

Starting next week, cell phone users should see a drop in the number of advertising text messages they receive. The Ministry of Information and Communication said yesterday that advertisers will need the prior consent of cell phone users before sending such messages, and they will be banned between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. The information ministry said it would order mobile service providers to cut off service to advertisers if they were found to have sent advertising without the phone owner’s consent. The ministry said it would ask cell phone companies to include contract provisions supporting the new policy in contracts between advertisers and cell phone service providers until the law can be changed to outlaw indiscriminate text messages. The ministry will also begin setting “honey traps” next week. Forty monitors will sign up with services that are known to advertise through mobile phone text messages. Calls to those cell phones will be monitored and recorded to catch any company that persists in cell-phone spamming. The government also took steps to crack down on companies that deal in phone sex through a block of information service numbers that start with 060. The ministry will also cancel licenses of companies that signed up for services intended for customer information, such as 1588 or 080, but who are using the services to sell pornography or adult entertainment. “Until now, the review of information content was left to voluntary regulation by companies,” a ministry official said. Companies that provide telephone information services such as fortune telling or ring tone downloads use lines from KT, Hanaro Telecom, Onse Telecom and Dacom, and provide those services with numbers that start with 060. by Choi Hyung-kyu