Bill published to transfer RegTel premium rate functions to Comreg

I've posted before (1|2) about some of the problems in regulation of premium rate services in Ireland and in particular the difficulties presented by the role of RegTel, the non-statutory industry regulatory body, due to its lack of legislative powers. (More on RegTel from Daithi | Eoin.) As noted in those posts, the Minister for Communications some time ago committed himself to introducing legislation which would transfer RegTel's functions to ComReg .

That legislation has now emerged, in the form of the Communications Regulation (Premium Rate Services) Bill 2009. According to the explanatory memorandum, the purpose of the Bill is to provide for:

• the transfer of the function of regulating premium rate services to the Commission for Communications Regulation, hereinafter called the Commission.
• the licensing of premium rate services by the Commission.
• offences, penalties and rights of appeal in relation to the regulation of premium rate services.
• the funding of expenses incurred by the Commission in exercise of its regulatory functions.
• the transfer of staff and responsibility for certain legal proceedings, respectively, from Regtel to the Commission.
• compliance by the Commission with the same obligations in relation to Ministerial directions, reporting and accountability responsibilities in respect of premium rate services as it has in respect of electronic communications and postal services.

Key elements here are the introduction of a licence to provide premium rate services and the creation of a range of criminal offences including acting without a licence and overcharging / charging for services which were not requested.

More from the Irish Times | Siliconrepublic.

(I'm a bit late blogging this story - I lost sight of this Bill in the flurry of legislative activity during the run up to the summer vacation, particularly the rushing through of the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009 and the introduction of the Communications (Retention of Data) Bill 2009. More on these anon.)

Realm Communications backs down from RegTel challenge

Remember the High Court challenge brought by Realm Communications (of Irish Psychics Live fame) against industry self-regulatory body RegTel? (Full details in this earlier post, but in short Realm were found to have been overcharging customers in breach of the Regtel Code of Practice and were banned from sending premium texts for twelve months.) In an apparent victory for RegTel, Realm has now agreed to abandon that action, to revise its services and to pay refunds in respect of customer complaints - though it seems that the twelve month ban has been waived. (Irish Times | Statement from Regtel)

The significance of this result? Although the result has no precedential value, it should strengthen the hand of Regtel in taking action against persistent breaches by removing a lingering threat about the scope of its authority. Perhaps more importantly from their perspective, it may also support the argument that premium rate services should be controlled by self-regulation via Regtel rather than (as the Minister has previously proposed) by statutory regulation giving new powers to ComReg.

How to be sued by space cadets - Regtel, text messages and "Ireland's first astronaut"

Tom Higgins is a space cadet. Literally. He has signed a contract with Virgin Galactic for their forthcoming space tourism service and claims the grandiloquent and somewhat premature title of Ireland's first astronaut.

He's also the owner of Realm Communications, a company which runs premium text and chatline services such as Irish Psychics Live and which has, to say the least, a patchy record when it comes to sending spam text messages. In fact, the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) is currently prosecuting Realm for sending these messages, something which Realm is seeking to head off by claiming in the High Court that the DPC is "obliged to seek an amicable resolution" before prosecuting an offender.

Now Realm is also suing Regtel - the industry self-regulatory body for premium rate telecommunications services. Why? After multiple complaints (e.g. 1, 2, 3) about Realm's Foneclub / MobileMania services, RegTel decided that Realm was operating in breach of its Code of Practice and decided to impose a 12 month suspension during which it would be unable to send premium messages. From the Irish Times:

ONE OF Ireland's best-known premium mobile phone text providers claims that its business would be 'wiped out' if a 12-month suspension from sending messages is imposed by the independent regulator (RegTel).

Realm Communications Ltd, Castle Drive City West business Park, Dublin, has brought High Court proceedings arising out of a finding by the Regulator of Premium Rate Telecommunications Services (RegTel) that its mobile phone credit service, FoneClub/ Mobile Mania, had breached the terms of its code of practice.

Realm was founded by businessman Tom Higgins and provides other services such as Irish Psychics Live, WebTarot, Century Psychics and Great Irish Breaks, as well as a live weather forecasting service. It argues that the findings made by RegTel following alleged complaints are unlawful.

Realm is seeking to have RegTel's adjudication and proposed sanctions, including the suspension of its services, quashed.

This case will, if it proceeds, be the first time that this industry self-regulation has been examined in the courts. (Realm Communications has, apparently, sued RegTel before, but that action doesn't seem to have made it to trial.) Ironically, this dispute comes just after the Minister for Communications announced his belief that self-regulation has failed and promised to amend the Broadcasting Bill 2008 to have RegTel's functions transferred to Comreg. In light of its apparent imminent demise, how keen will RegTel be to fight this particular battle?

Eoin O'Dell has more on how RegTel and the Data Protection Commissioner have been cooperating to stop mobile phone spam.

Update (4.11.08): Imminent demise or otherwise, RegTel appear to be keen to have the matter determined and have had the case transferred to the Commercial Court in order to "fast track" it.