Cellular carriers dragging their knuckles on SMS blocking

Okay, time for a rant about some really dark times in the cellular networks.

Today I discovered something really pathetic about US cellular network carriers - they claim that are not able to block SMS messages (i.e. text messages) sent to a phone. More to the point they charge me for receiving those messages. Some some juvenille or idiot picks a random phone number decides to start spaming it with text messages and the network claims there is nothing they can do except change the phone number. So not only do you get whacked with paying for the unwanted messages, you also have to endure the inconvenience of changing you number, with no guarantee it wont happen all over again.

Landline companies long ago figured out how to block specific numbers and certainly would never get away with billing you - and not the sender - for unwanted calls. Even the postal service figured out from day one that it couldn't get away with charging people to receive their mail - they long ago worked out how to recoup costs of delivering mail from outside their network i.e. another country. So considering how long SMS has been around and how its delivered by entirely digital means its truely pathetic they didn't implement blocking SMS (even if you have to call them to do it) from day one.

Given how actively they market texting to everyone and his dog, but most partically kids with nothing better to do than send messages all day, and give how carriers make a fortune from this service I believe this is the best ever case for a class action suit I've ever heard. Its well know in Europe that the US phone networks are extremely retarded in many respects - how many Americans are aware that if you have a cellphone (mobile) in Europe and someone calls you then you don't pay a dime for receiving that call - just like with regular networks. Its the caller who is billed extra for the airtime which is just as it should be. With such a system I would also not be billed for receiving a text message - also the way it should be.

Basically by selling phones and services that are unable to block text messages from specific numbers (or voice calls for that matter) and then charging me for it its like Microsoft shipping an OS with no firewall and no antivirus and no antispyware and then charging you every time you got a bad packet, got a virus or picked up some spyware. Can you imagine if the postal service decided to start charging you to receive mail, and then was unable to block unsolicited mail? Guess how long that service would last.

Like I said, unless networks do something about this really quickly I'm guessing some class action lawyer is going to jump on this real soon and guess what - its going to cost the networks billions if not trillions (like the case against the fax spammer). I suggest some really hefty punitive damages be awarded too because when I search online I find loads of people complaining about this and how they have been hit with huge bills because some person decided to spam them via text. The only recourse suggested by the carriers is always change your number or file a harrasment charge against the responsible party. Well that's certainly the cheapest solution for the networks isn't it... and guess what its they one where they continue to make money on their created problem.