Mobile industry changes rules for ringtone sales

The safeguards have been introduced in the wake of complaints from consumers who had responded to adverts without realising the ads were for a subscription service – leading to a nasty surprise when they received their mobile bills.

The issue was highlighted recently after ICSTIS, the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services, received over 100 complaints from people who thought they had bought the Crazy Frog ringtone at a price of £3, only to find that they had also unwittingly signed up for a subscription service costing £3 per week.

“The mobile phone operators have recognised that there is a need for effective safeguards that help prevent consumers from becoming victims of misleading advertising and that set out clearly what is expected of content providers,” said ICSTIS Director George Kidd.

He continued: “Teenagers are particularly vulnerable as they do not always fully appreciate the conditions attached to such services. Like the mobile operators, we are committed to ensuring that these services can be used with confidence.”

The safeguards, which must be implemented by content providers by the end of August, are being introduced at a network level by 3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone.

They state that:

• A standard message that includes details of service charges and billing frequency must be prominently displayed within any form of advertising for a subscription text service. For TV advertising, this new standard message must be permanent and static for the full duration of the advert and accompanied with a voiceover. Further rules on the font size to be used for this message ensure visibility.
• Any mobile phone user joining a subscription text service must be sent a free reply text message from the content provider confirming the user’s subscription commitment. The service operator must also provide a standard or free rate customer helpline number and include this number in the reply text message.
• Any mobile phone user joining a subscription text service must be sent a notification text message (either monthly or when £20 has been spent on that service – whichever comes first) that reminds the user how to unsubscribe.
• Service operators must operate a web site that includes terms and conditions for the service.

The new safeguards are an extension of existing consumer protection rules contained in the ICSTIS Code of Practice, and build on the common ‘STOP’ command introduced 12 months ago by the mobile phone industry to enable consumers to cancel subscription services by texting the word ‘STOP’ to the text shortcode related to their service.

This ‘STOP’ command will now be extended to cover any form of text, WAP or media messaging-based marketing to enable consumers to stop the receipt of any marketing messages.

In addition, ICSTIS has introduced a prior-permission requirement for open-ended services that can cost users more than £20 in total. Permission will only be granted if service providers demonstrate that their services and advertising material meet certain standards designed to prevent consumer confusion and harm.

ICSTIS has also issued a statement of expectations, clarifying how service providers should interpret the Code of Practice in respect of the marketing of subscription services operating over £20.

According to George Kidd:

“Spelling out our expectations through this timely network initiative and our permissions process should help content providers clearly understand what is expected of them, and should help to maintain public trust in the rich variety of content services available.”