T-Mobile USA Sued For Blocking Text Messages

Ez Texting, a New York-based company that helps businesses send marketing text messages has sued T-Mobile for allegedly blocking access to the T-Mobile network because one of their clients provided information on medical marijuana. Apparently T-Mobile cut off access to its network after learning of a client of Ez Texting that described itself as “a community where medical marijuana patients connect with other patients in their geographic region to freely discuss and review local cannabis co-operatives, dispensaries, medical doctors, and delivery services.” The suit also claims that T-Mobile stopped the service even after Ez Texting stopped providing its service to the client, and the situation is made trickier by the fact that the client caters to people in states where medical marijuana is legal. Ez Texting claims that it will go out of business if access to the T-Mobile network isn’t restored.

Update 9/21. T-Mobile’s official reply

“T-Mobile believes that the recent complaint filed by EZ Texting is without merit; and we are pleased that last Friday, September 17, 2010, the court rejected EZ Texting’s motion for early relief. Though T-Mobile doesn’t typically comment on pending litigation, we believe it is important to clear up some of the confusion generated by EZ Texting’s allegations. Each carrier has a process to ensure that content providers like EZ Texting follow the Mobile Marketing Association’s U.S. Consumer Best Practices Guidelines for Cross-Carrier Mobile Content Programs, as well as other regulations applicable to the mobile content business. When T-Mobile discovered that EZ Texting had not followed this process for WeedMaps – the text messaging service at issue in the lawsuit – we turned off the short code that EZ Texting was using for these services. The content of the WeedMaps service simply had nothing to do with T-Mobile’s decision.”

Matthew Chung
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: block, T-Mobile, text message, tmobile usa