SAN DIEGO-Mobile messaging company SMS.ac had a cease-and-desist order issued against a blogger who called the company a “total scam.”
The law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery served blogger Russell Beattie with a document demanding the removal of two posts referencing SMS.ac. Beattie, who works for Yahoo Mobile-which also offers wireless messaging services-complied, removing the material in question before posting the cease-and-desist order on his blog.
“SMS.ac is a complete con,” Beattie wrote last year in a post that was recently removed. “Total scam.”
Beattie wrote Sunday that he removed the messages because “I don’t feel like being sued.”
SMS.ac Executive Vice President Greg Wilfahrt said Beattie will receive another cease-and-desist letter in response to Sunday’s post because the post contains Beattie’s original allegations against the company. Beattie’s Sunday entry includes a full copy of SMS.ac’s initial order in addition to a highlighted excerpt from the document of the “complete con” charges.
SMS.ac has gained substantial traction in mobile messaging even as it has drawn considerable fire. The company builds clubs of like-minded wireless users who exchange text messages on topics ranging from entertainment to politics to infidelity, and has garnered attention in the New York Times, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal.
Beattie was among a number of bloggers to have lambasted the company on the Internet. Critics have accused the company of using deceptive pricing models, sending unwanted messages to nonsubscribers and fraudulently sparking text message conversations in an attempt to generate revenues.
SMS.ac has tried to scrub its image in the last year, establishing a six-point “Consumer Bill of Rights” and backing several philanthropic efforts.
Wilfahrt said the company has no plans to send similar letters to other critics.
“When somebody comes out and prints defamatory and libelous material as Russell Beattie did, we need to take action,” he said. “In essence, we have a fiduciary duty to protect our company, and that’s what we’re doing.”
