Now here is an interesting debate. Cellular providers would think that blocking unsolicited text messages to their consumers would be a good thing.  But now, there are activists stating that doing this is discrimination.  By blocking unsolicited text messages, you will be blocked from spam, but at the same time, you will be blocked from receiving text messages from various activist groups.  So the question is, should cellular companies do this or not?

Eight consumer and public-interest groups filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, saying mobile phone providers should not be able to block text messages from political groups and advertisers.

The petition, from Public Knowledge, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, and other groups, comes after Verizon Wireless decided in September to block text messages on its network from abortion rights group Naral Pro-Choice America, then reversed that decision the same day it was reported in the media.

“Mobile carriers currently can and do arbitrarily decide what customers to serve and which speech to allow on text messages, refusing to serve those that they find controversial or that compete with the mobile carriers’ services,” says the petition, filed Tuesday. “This type of discrimination would be unthinkable and illegal in the world of voice communications, and it should be so in the world of text messaging as well.”[more]

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