[Opinion] Mobile Phone Spam

Spam (junk mail) in your mailbox or the “received” folder of your e-mail can be gathered and thrown away or erased with a click of your mouse. Mobile phones are much more personal as methods of communication than mails, faxes and e-mails. Mobile phone spam intrudes into your personal life, disrupts your work and causes frustration. Some say you have to accept the flies and mosquitoes that come with the cool wind from an open window, but the spam that comes through mobile phones is sometimes more annoying than insects.

Most mobile phone users have probably had the irritating and annoying experience of receiving unsolicited calls from “060” numbers while they were busy and engrossed in their work. Most SMS spam also contains sexual content. The prosecution says many SMS spammers have been arrested for illegally buying mobile phone numbers and private information from credit card companies and banks, and sending spam with sexual content. Not only does such spam expose teenagers to inappropriate content, but it also causes network overloads. Because of the spam that keeps pouring in, users sometimes miss important messages or erase them by mistake.

People in opposition say that we should not ban all mobile phone advertisements just because of spam. Direct mail marketers assert that mobile phone advertisements will cut phone fees for users. They say that like advertisements that lower the subscription fees for television and newspaper subscribers, mobile phone ads will play the same role for mobile phone users. It is hard to predict the level of personalized service mobile phones will provide. However, as mobile phones are portable communications means, a user’s choice and agreement should be prerequisites in receiving mobile phone advertisements.

In the U.S., after a law levied 500 dollars in fines for one fax spam, junk mail through faxes disappeared. Direct mail marketers are lobbying heavily against a ban on mobile phone spam in the U.S. Operators explain that mobile phone spam does not waste paper like fax spam and takes little time to receive. However, some steps should be taken to punish the spammers who call from “060” numbers and bother busy people.

Hwang Ho-taeck, Editorial Writer, hthwang@donga.com