Yes, there is lots of political weaseling going on, there always has been and always will be but it's about time somebody with big boots did a dance on these thieving tricksters.

I've been hit by three of those premium rate texts that cost you £1.50 just to receive them and can guarantee that I didn't do anything that could have triggered them.

After I called my mobile service provider and explained the concept of 'theft' and 'aiding and abetting' and also asked them how much of a 'cut' they got, they eventually agreed to refund the full cost, after giving me lots of runaround.

As the article notes, it seems to be the poor and unfortunately 'ignorant' who are the main target for these organisations. In the case of the ringtones, it looks like a case of theft by deception to me, which is still illegal in the UK as far as I know. Stamp on them and smash them.

you can get your freebie and then cancel.

I have done this myself and others and it works ok though I steer clear of the ones that are on the net only.

The regulators need to crack down on those that dont comply with the stop keyword and get operators to block these services that do not comply, imposing heavy fines if they do not.

But users should educate themslves too, ignorance is no defence, keep away from ones that don't advertise on TV.

... with millions below the poverty line why do we spends billions on ringtones anyway?

In my opinion these are some of the most pointless items around. And all to show the world that you're a Pratt with a phone! (usually in a supermarket).

Mines the bearskin one - time to get back to the cave..

If you looked into how Phone Pay Plus is funded, and how telephone companies happily charge ontop of these premium rate messages without as much as a hesitation it makes you wonder...

In theory there's nothing stopping say a mobile phone provider to introduce age checks on phones, and warnings when premium texts are sent to your phone. Well I say in theory - that's my theory.

Only time I had an issue with a company like this, I rang them up and they refunded me and advised on how to get the charges my provided added ontop back from the provider (who helpfully didn't mention anything about their own charges when I spoke with them initially).

Funny old world, no?

There's plenty of free ringtone sites out there... why pay?? http://FriendSite.com is free, there's no texting in and no subscriptions - and all mobile content like ringtones, backgrounds, etc are free, you just need to be a member (and thats free as well) - just goto Mobile Fun and browse..

I'm sorry but not everything needs to be turned into a EU-bashing exercise. It gets tiring for the readers.

It's like having an agenda and pursuing it no matter what it's been talked about.

There is a saying in Italian that goes something like: "It's raining. The government is a robber!"

It's perfectly ok to question if the EU is the optimal regulatory level for a certain issue, but then please let's use rational arguments (and there are plenty), but not just the (currently very popular) generic lack of simpathy for the EU.

Didnt know they still existed. Nearly all phones nowadays can use mp3's or WAV's as ringtones so I assumed they had died the death. After all, the ultimate personal tone is one that you have ripped from cd and copied over to your phone (no matter how poor your taste in music).

Or are we talking about those poor souls with j-Phones who get their fix from iTunes ?