Mobile Marketing Law Roundtable

ERSP recently attended a mobile marketing law roundtable hosted by Olshan Grundman Frome Rosenzweig and Wolosky LLP and sponsored by Moritt Hock Hamroff LLP and The Lustigman Firm.

Here are some of the highlights and key takeaways from the discussion:

• A link to the privacy policy should be included on all pages of a website. Companies should also provide a truncated version of its privacy policy that is can be easily understood by consumers.
• Text-based marketing is highly regulated in the U.S. - out of the 900,000 short codes (five to six digit numbers), less than 3,500 have been registered. The reason? Many carriers require a double opt-in for text messaging-based promotions. For example, a consumer signs up to receive news via text on Company A's website. After clicking submit, the consumer receives a text message from Company A requiring the consumer to reply to the text if they're sure they want to sign up. So not only do they sign up online, but the consumer has to confirm via text -- this is the second opt-in. 
• Getting more into the technology side of things, patent issues are becoming problematic for the industry. With multi-million (and billion) dollar companies duking it out in the courts over who's got which patent, consumers are likely to get hit with more fees and tech development could be stymied.
• By 2012, one out of every two phones will be a smartphone.
• User-generated content is difficult to monitor and regulate. Is there no good way to mitigate risk?
• Many of the issues facing mobile marketing are the same as those that cropped up when the internet became popular. How secure is my data? How fast is the page loading?
• International laws regarding the regulation of mobile marketing are very different and make it difficult for companies to promote worldwide campaigns.