Mobile Marketingthe new frontier for digital media law

Adriana Gil Miner - March 2008 - COM 558 Law & Digital Media - University of Washington

82% of U.S. population subscribe to a wireless service

source: CTIA The Wireless association

don’t leave home without it...our phones are with us 75% of the time*

*Source: (October, 2007) Visa Online survey mobile payments

rich medium withmany opportunities to market

interacting with your phone

text search video applications transactions

voting: American Idol

localized info: events, restaurants, etc

bite-size content: youtube

games payments: visa mobile

activism: HIV911, get-the-vote-out

industry seeks to combine proactive search with GPS data

younger audiences open to full-length content(ipod generation)

discrete-task applications

xfers:paypal mobile

service alerts: banking, flights

two silos: walled gardens and mobile web

advertising supported model

open platforms will generate many apps

billing:cell phone = credit card

07: 28.8B texts,370% YOY growth

multimedia information: history of a place (mobile guides)

small but raising user population, iPhone impact

convergence of computer + phone

low adoptionhigh adoption

From $700M to $2.2Bby 2012 mobile advertising will account for 1% of media spend

Source: (January, 2008) Jupiter Research, US Mobile Marketing Forecast 2007 to 2012, p. 3

complex ecosystemP&GToyotaCokeDisney

CNNFoxESPN Weather channel

Third ScreenAd Infuse

AdmobMedio AT&T

VerizonT-MobileSprint

MotorolaSamsungNokiaApple

GoogleMicrosoftopen source: UGC

(2007) Jupiter Research, Mobile Ad Networks, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), Industry Overview. Image from iLoop Mobile.

learning from the past• the internet became a billion dollar

business in 4 years

• selling/buying of customer databases

• bad business models trials

• state vs federal regulations

• data collection: no personally identifiable data

• data sharing standards: protect it!

• consumer attitudes evolve

key legal issues

privacy

spam

security

access

location data, unique identifiers, minor protection

unsolicited messages are costly for consumers

stolen phones, exchange, data sharing among players

rural vs metropolitan areas, taxation, airwaves

regulating mobile spam• Concerns the ability to limit/

eliminate the unwanted commercial messages

• Governed by CAN-SPAM

• Section 14 requires FTC and FCC to promulgate mobile anti-spam regulations

• August 2004 Report & Order from FCC

mobile CAN-SPAM • TCPA prohibits automated calls to

mobile devices, text messages included (2003 Report & Order)

• express authorization to send commercial messages

• clear identification of service

• provide an opt-out mechanism that is the same as the opt-in

• the message is considered ‘service’ based on a relaitonship

mobile spam challenges• identifying commercial messages

• lack of filtering/control capabilities for messages

• difficulty identifying ‘domain names’ that are associated with wireless devices

• opt-in and opt out mechanisms

• space limitations for disclosures, privacy policies and T&Cs

What’s next?• FTC Town-hall meeting May 6-7

• increased pressure to develop mobile messaging controls

• small screen disclosures

• mobile commerce security

• teen & children protection

• industry leaders fear a ‘do-not-text list’

thank you.