Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

[enaid]

‘Hugely disappointing’ decision clears way for unscrupulous companies to carry on.

Rogue firms which bombard millions with nuisance texts and calls have been given the go-ahead to continue the plague.
In a devastating blow for consumers, a judge has ruled a decision by the Information Commissioner’s Office to fine the owner of a telecoms company for sending out 840,000 spam messages EVERY DAY was unfair. That’s despite him admitting the firm had been breaking the law.
Campaigners last night said the ruling effectively clears the way for other companies to torment members of the public with unsolicited calls and texts.


http://www.sundaypost.com/news-views/uk/judge-gives-green-light-to-pest-calls-and-texts-1.143680

[EXC]

Re: Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

Here's the decision.

It seems to me that the judge is saying that because only a few hundred people complained to the ICO out of the hundreds of thousands of unlawful texts sent, it is not likely to have caused widespread distress.

[enaid]

Re: Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

Bit obvious this Judge hasn't got a mobile phone and his servants probably answer his home phone and staff his office phones.
Or maybe he lives on a different planet and only pops down to do a bit now and again.

[enaid]

Re: Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

Here's the decision.

It seems to me that the judge is saying that because only a few hundred people complained to the ICO out of the hundreds of thousands of unlawful texts sent, it is not likely to have caused widespread distress.

Well there you go we can all break the law as long as we do not cause any distress.

[EXC]

Re: Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

Well there you go we can all break the law as long as we do not cause any distress.

What the judge appears to be saying is that it did cause distress but it wasn't widespread in comparison to the volume of texts sent and by virtue of the number of complaints.

It's a lousy decision.

[enaid]

Re: Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

I wonder, as the judge seems to deal in percentages, if he knew just how many of the people receiving these calls has actually heard of the ICO let alone how to complain to them.

[TUTTSI]

Re: Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

Why are we surprised, many of the people who have been subjected to the texts would have just deleted them or ignored them and not complained at all. If everyone who ever receives unwanted texts complained they would need to employ many more people to take up on these complaints.

The MOJ are the same they wont take up a complaint against a CMC unless they start to receive many complaints about a particular CMC as we all know even then -they do not always act.

[bluebottle]

Re: Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

It's the same with the OFT and DCAs, Tuttsi. This judge needs a reality check or, better still, removing from the judiciary.

[Amethyst]

Re: Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

sounds like the ICO went in on the wrong grounds...were given opportunity to amend and failed

23. After allowing time for consideration of this point, we indicated to Mr Cornwell that
in asking ourselves whether the contravention was “of a kind likely to cause
substantial damage or substantial distress” we would, so far as the question of scale
was concerned, rely on the description contained in the account of the contravention.
We enquired whether the ICO wished to proceed on the basis that the contravention
was actually the sending of hundreds of thousands of unwanted text messages . He
told us that he had express instructions not to proceed on that basis.

[enaid]

Re: Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

sounds like the ICO went in on the wrong grounds...were given opportunity to amend and failed

I wonder if the ICO is kept afloat by call centres then like the MOJ is kept afloat by rogue CMCs :doggieyes:

[Angry Cat]

Re: Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

Disgraceful decision!!!

[enquirer]

Re: Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

23 [...] We enquired whether the ICO wished to proceed on the basis that the contravention was actually the sending of hundreds of thousands of unwanted text messages. He told us that he had express instructions not to proceed on that basis.

It would be interesting to discover who gave those instructions.

[Angry Cat]

Re: Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

I have just bought one of these:
http://www.cprcallblocker.com/
£39.99 and Brilliant!

What a disgrace though that the ICO will not put a stop to these nuisance calls;
so the General Consumer has to protect him/herself instead...

[MIKE770]

Re: Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

It's the same with the OFT and DCAs, Tuttsi. This judge needs a reality check or, better still, removing from the judiciary.

Here Here Oh! & There!

[EXC]

Re: Judge gives green light to pest calls and texts

sounds like the ICO went in on the wrong grounds...were given opportunity to amend and failed

The problem is that had they done so no meaningful financial penalty could have been made for the lesser charge.

However reading the latest update from MOJ, the Government are looking at lowering the threshold:


''The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has committed to changing the law so regulators can share intelligence about firms responsible for nuisance calls. DCMS will also explore other options for making it easier for regulators to act against firms responsible for nuisance calls. These include lowering the threshold (‘substantial harm or distress’) for regulators to issue penalties for nuisance calls''



http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/...re-reforms.pdf