Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has taken action against a total of 11 mobile content services providers for spamming and other regulatory violations.
From the middle of last year to early this year, these companies have been slapped with a suspension of their short codes services and at least one has been fined for the violations.
Consumers and industry players have long called for tough action against service providers that failed to adhere to MCMC regulations that aim to protect consumer interest.
The service providers include several owned by listed companies.
Apart from spamming, the offences include failure to deactivate services upon termination, auto subscription, and unclear or lack of price information.
According to the MCMC, the penalties imposed on the companies included the suspension of their short codes services for several weeks to months or fines.
The list of non-compliant content providers offenders is posted on MCMC website at http://www.cmc.gov.my/mcmc/consumer/non_compliance.asp.
The MCMC began a crackdown on the offenders last year after various complaints against the services providers, such as spamming and unfair billing.
The list shows that action had been taken against the 11 companies since the first, Radius Ed Sdn Bhd, had seven short codes suspended from June 21 to Nov 6, 2006 and was compounded.
The latest offender, Parade Nine Techno Sdn Bhd, has had a short code suspended since January 10, 2007 for failing to send out reminders to customers prior to the renewal of service subscription.
The other offenders include Macro Kiosk Bhd, which is owned by Goldis Bhd as well as Dubaitech Marketing Sdn Bhd and Nextnation Network Sdn Bhd, which are owned by Nextnation Communication Bhd.
Unrealmind Interactive Bhd, owned by Monstermob Group Plc and listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange, was also taken to task.
“These offences have been rampant and the crackdown is much welcomed. This will be a deterrent to would be offenders,” an industry source said.
“Hopefully, the action by the MCMC will help instill confidence back to consumers who have shunned our services due to the abuses committed by some players,” he said.-TheEdgeDaily
