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* EU, champion of the ringtone downloader

Anonymous Coward

Fair enough 

Unhappy

The article isn't bad, but the last line is an opinion and nothing more, the sort of crap you normally find in the Guardian.

Its not taking the piss. These local regulators are all paid for by us one way or another, and by and large they do sod all. Ofcom springs to mind as a toothless centrally funded quango.

We cant make them earn their keep, the morons in whitehall certainly won't; they're still figuring out their shoelaces (apart from the cabinet, who are struggling with velcro), so if the EU want to make them actually earn their wages then im all for it. Its certainly not taking the piss.

Edwin

Be fair, Bill 

Dead Vulture

If such an enormous percentage of these services (and yes, I know the bastards well) are dodgy, then very clearly the national regulators aren't doing their jobs, are they?

I've seen the ads, and it would be trivial for watchdogs (be they advertising or telco) to do something about them. If the national watchdogs won't, then I'm all for handing it to the EU to manage.

The fact that the national watchdogs carried out the work at the EU's request doesn't change that - because they still had to be asked (rather then a proactive approach).

Frank

Stamp on 'em 

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.

pctechxp

Provided they provide a stop command 

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.

James

In a world.... 

... 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..

Anonymous Coward

Interesting really 

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?

Rick

Or... 

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..

Filomena

Prejudices 

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.

Anonymous Coward

Ringtone sites ? 

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 ?

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