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SMS.ac, Inc.

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SMS.ac is the website of a mobile data communications company based in San Diego, California. Its current chairman and CEO is Michael C. Pousti. It offers MMS/SMS services.

The company claims to have more than 40 million registered mobile consumers in over 180 countries, and to have connectivity to more than 400 mobile operators worldwide. The company operates a social networking website which also claims to offer free outgoing SMSes.

Services

SMS.ac aims to be a community for mobile phone users. Users of the service can send multimedia (MMS) and text (SMS) to any mobile phone in the world, using either their mobile phones or the web. Additional community services (picture uploading, for instance) are also offered.

"This is a private website from which users can send free SMS, in return for which the receiver gets advertisements with the messages."(The Edge Malaysia, May 23, 2005, "Net Value: 'CPs cannot spam customers'").

In August 2005 it launched a "Global Mobile Phone Users' Consumer Bill of Rights" .

Controversy

It is alleged that social engineering is employed in their attempt to capture new members by spamming the Hotmail contacts of new members, usually without their knowledge. Upon attempting voluntary registration, the user is immediately advised to sign into their Hotmail account through the sms.ac website for "best results".

Upon signing up for the service, a customer is given the option of importing their address books from online email services such as Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, Gmail and others. SMS.ac claims they are then given the option of inviting all, some, or none of those contacts to join the service, but it is said by some that this process is confusing and misleading; especially because the user is asked to input the password to his email account before completing the registration process, and that nearly all new users are confused by misleading wording and visual cues.

Once the registrant has signed over their contact list, it is said that SMS.ac will continue to send emails to their contacts in the address book, until they opt out of SMS.ac, or they actually sign-up. This has generated a significant negative reaction from those who have never signed up for the service, but who have instead simply received a barrage of apparently deceptive spam (the registrants name is placed in the subject field).

A former employee has alleged that when a person becomes a member, SMS.ac automatically adds them to several mobile chatgroups and charges the member's mobile phone account a small fee for each SMS sent to the registered phone. Its also been alleged by others that these messages are generated by SMS.ac itself, which makes it seem like real people are actually chatting through the service. In March 2005 the Belgian newspaper De Standaard (March 23, 2005, "Onderzoek naar sms-site") reported that users of the "free" SMS service were subsequently charged €0.25 per message for receiving unwanted messages.

The company has responded to some bloggers with a made-up/mock cease and desist order, demanding they refrain from using the word "spam" in reference to the service. (RCR Wireless News, March 21, 2005, "SMS.ac gains members, detractors as wireless learns viral marketing lessons")

Some users have indicated that attempting to cancel one's membership at SMS.ac is difficult and non-intuitive.

See also

External links

Unsolicited digital communication
Protocols
Email spam
Other
Anti-spam
Spamdexing
Internet fraud
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