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Comment by qopp | Hacker News Reader

Is this service ethical?

I hope users who would like to see bulk messages on their phone chose to opt-in (manually, not auto-opt-in). Your terms of use do not demand this.

In the US: "FCC rules ban text messages sent to a mobile phone using an autodialer unless you previously gave consent to receive the message"

I would wonder deeply about opt-in rates as well. How are you keeping track of how much users enjoy receiving these messages? (Not just click rates because people might click something they hate to receive)

Also, confusingly, your terms of use state:

> You agree that You will not use the Service to send.. "promotional materials"...

But that's what's shown as an example on the front page?

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Thanks for the feedback - SMS is a highly regulated industry and we follow all rules and regulations as specified by the TCPA and relevant case law. Our terms reflect these regulations. You should take a look at the full clause you identified "...That contains spam, non-permitted, unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, chain letters, pyramid schemes, gambling or any other form of solicitation". The key modifiers are 'non-permitted, unsolicited or unauthorized'. When a subscriber opts-in, they authorize the messages. We require explicit opt-ins for all subscribers in our service, regardless of whether they opted-in using another service.

Our business model is built around keeping subscribers opted in. When subscribers decide they no longer want to receive messages, we lose money. We track satisfaction by examining - among other variables - opt-out rates, click-through rates and response rates. The crux of our business is subscriber satisfaction and we take it very seriously.

How do subscribers opt out?

Not related to the company and remembering off the top of my head, but I believe the rules state that two commands must be implemented by all SMS short code users: HELP and STOP. HELP returns information about the service whereas STOP must remove someone from the system instantly, after a final text (may be) sent.

Subscribers can text 'Stop' or 'Done' at any point to opt-out.

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