Mobile industry forum proposes TV prem guidelines

Technology news – Tech.co.uk | Mobile industry fights TV-text rip-offs

Protecting consumers from rip-offs by TV quiz competitions and text votes is the impetus behind a new initiative from the mobile industry.

Aimed at beefing up customer protection from scams and shady practices recently uncovered in the UK, the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) will shortly publish a framework setting out how “participation-TV” should operate. It is designed to give consumers complete confidence that they won’t get ripped off when using their mobile to vote by text. The MEF guidelines will complement the existing Code of Practice from ICSTIS , the UK’s premium rate services regulator .

The full MEF press release is here. Whether it’s too little too late remains to be seen – with reports yesterday that ITV’s premium revenue has dropped 20% in the past couple of months and ICSTIS currently consulting on plans to ‘license’ premium SMS for radio and TV, the industry is already in overdrive in an attempt to restore consumer confidence and bring about a change in attitude amongst broadcasters on what can – and can’t – be done.