An Arizona court has outlawed text message spam for the first time in the U.S.
Applying a 1991 federal law against autodialing, the Court of Appeals upheld a ruling in favor of Rodney Joffe, who sued the Acacia Mortgage company for sending unsolicited texts to his phone.
The ruling means that anyone who sends text spam could find themselves subject to Arizonan telemarketing laws.
Acacia maintained that the texts it sent did not constitute a phonecall and therefore did not apply to current state laws. But the three judges at the Arizona court of appeal argued that telemarketing laws can be applied to the relatively new technology of texting.
According to the Washington Post the 1991 law was written in a way that allowed for new interpretations and anticipated advances in mobile marketing technology.
It is understood that the case could result in a class action against Acacia.
In August SC reported a federal grand jury in Phoenix, Arizona indicted three people on charges of violating the federal Can-Spam Act for operating a pornographic spam business. The alleged face over five years in prison if convicted.
