House bill would put unsolicited text ads under do-not-call rules: Measure aims to ban unwelcome text messaging advertisements

A group of House lawmakers introduced legislation to close a loophole in federal law that makes mobile-phone subscribers potential targets for unsolicited text message advertising.
“Basically, this adds text messages to banned calls to cellphone numbers listed on the national do-not-call list,” said John Shimkus (R-Ill.), an original co-sponsor of the bill.
The measure — Stop M-Spam Abuse as a Sales industry Habit Act of 2008, or SMASH Act — would allow the Federal Trade Commission to address the problem by revising regulations governing the national do-not-call list registry.
“We all know the success of the do-not-call list. Now text ads are circumventing the law and in some cases, costing people money,” Shimkus stated. “This bill would just keep up with technology and ban unsolicited text ads.”
Cellular industry association CTIA said it is reviewing the legislation and therefore has not taken a position at this time.
Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) championed mobile-phone spam legislation several years ago, but the measure failed gain significant traction in Congress.