Mobile spammer handed fine

A company that sent large numbers of unsolicited text messages to mobile phone users in the United Kingdom, telling them they had won a mystery prize worth $773(?500), has been fined $77,360 (?50,000) by the premium rate services regulator. ICSTIS (the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services) announced on Thursday that it was fining Moby Monkey and barring it from continuing the promotion.

Over 200 people complained to ICSTIS after receiving the message, which urged them to call a $2.30 per minute premium rate telephone number. Those who made the call discovered, after several minutes, that the mystery prizes were holiday discount vouchers subject to various terms and conditions. In its ruling, ICSTIS slammed Moby Monkey's tactics, which it said seriously breached the code of practice governing premium rate services. Moby Monkey is said to be planning to appeal the decision.

ZDNet UK's Graeme Wearden reported from London.

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