In September 2007 Yes Mobiles t/a Express Mobiles had a complaint upheld in connection with an advertisement it sent by text message. The ASA ruled that the identity of the advertiser was unclear, that it had not obtained explicit consent before sending the message and that it was a misleading advertisement because it id not tell recipients how to opt out of receiving further messages from Express Mobiles. A complete strike

And that is about all that happened. Express Mobiles has to to agree to obtain explicit consent from recipients before sending text messages. The ASA "reminded" them to identify themselves in adverts and to offer a clear opt-out. It also "asked" them to obtain guidance from the CAP Copy Advice team before advertising in future.

Although the tone of the adjudication is conciliatory the ultimate sanction of the ASA is a kind of black list which would prevent the media from accepting ads from this particular advertiser if it repeated its mistakes often enough. 

On the positive side, the adjudication illustrates that someone is enforcing the Ecommerce Regalations and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (anti-spam) regulations.  We could wish that the consequences were just a little harsher though....................

Mandy Webster
Data Protection Consulting

I know of a lady in her late 50s who was going into LONG TERM CARE. Her estate was worth £500,000 and house was about to be put up for sale to help pay for this as her husband had died 18 months previously and  her children, were all grown up. She could have been left with just £12,500 to pass on to her son and daughter, and the grandchildren she adored.

Apply these qualities and lead by example and you will have confidence in yourself. People will then respect you as a leader.