California bans mobile spam

US state leads the way...

California's mobile phones should soon be officially freed from unwanted text messages. Last Thursday, Governor Gray Davis signed a bill that would prohibit companies from spamming mobile phones and pagers with unwanted text messages. The law goes into effect in January. Davis said he endorsed the plan because he didn't want unsolicited messages on mobile phones to reach the same level of mayhem that spam emails have. "These days, telemarketers and advertisers are intruding on everything - our home phones, our cell phone, our fax machines and our pagers," Davis said in a statement. "Today, California cuts the line on unsolicited faxes, phone calls and text messages." Davis also signed two other tech privacy bills, including one that would mandate stricter junk fax laws and another designed to speed the creation of a "do not call" list. Representatives from the wireless and text messaging industry did not immediately return requests for comment. Lisa M. Bowman writes for News.com