Using SMS to Promote Your Adult Biz? Be Aware of This Policy Change

“As part of U.S. wireless carrier efforts to combat spam and improve the delivery of legitimate text messages, a significant industry-wide change is occurring,” the company stated in the email. “Businesses that send text messages using local phone numbers must register with a 3rd party reputation authority called The Campaign Registry. The registration requirements apply to 10 DLC messaging (10-digit long codes), otherwise known as US local phone numbers. Beginning March 31, 2023, there likely will be fees associated with registration.”

That single paragraph raises a lot of questions – some of them familiar to anyone who has promoted adult content through any number of different mechanisms over the years. Among these questions: Do the Campaign Registry’s terms permit adult businesses to promote their websites and products via SMS? How much will registering with the Campaign Registry cost? What does registration involve?

As the email from Phone.com quickly revealed, even “Campaign Service Providers” (CSPs) like them aren’t sure how this new system will affect SMS marketers.

“Unfortunately, there is still much uncertainty in the industry about exactly how these changes will impact customers,” the company conceded in the announcement. “While some aspects of the shift remain unknown to us, we think it is important to tell you what we know now.”

With respect to what is known about the change to requiring business to register with the Campaign Registry, we know that all businesses that send text messages to ten-digit US phone numbers must register by the end of this month (March 31). We also know that after March 31 “the carriers will likely block outgoing SMS/MMS messages for unregistered customers,” according to phone.com.

We also know that the registration requirement is far-reaching: “These regulations affect everyone that sends SMS (including person-to-person conversational messages) using any service other than the native mobile number associated with the device,” Phone.com explained. “Inbound messages and voice calls are not impacted.”

Another important thing to understand: Individual companies and brands do not register with the Campaign Registry directly. Instead, they must register through a CSP like Phone.com. Since businesses are presumably already using these CSPs to transmit their SMS campaigns, this requirement makes sense and is convenient for businesses and SMS marketers. Unfortunately, it also introduces another set of questions, as each CSP may have different terms and conditions.

When it comes to costs, Phone.com said the Campaign Registry “will charge a one-time brand registration fee, a one-time vetting fee, and a monthly fee” and noted that these fees are determined and charged by The Campaign Registry, not by Phone.com, so you will incur the same cost no matter what platform you use for texting.”

“For most customers, the one-time fees will total approximately $19, and the monthly fee will be approximately $1.50 (plus applicable taxes),” Phone.com added.

As for the big question – will adult businesses still be allowed to promote their products via SMS following this change? – the answer is somewhat unclear. Looking over the terms and conditions published by the Campaign Registry, there is nothing clearly, explicitly stating that promotion of sexually-explicit products or websites is prohibited, or that use of sexually-explicit language is disallowed. Instead, what you get is the typical, very broad, very much open-to-interpretation sort of verbiage we’ve all come to expect in the rules written up by mainstream entities over whose networks sexually explicit material might be transmitted.

“User agrees not to use the Campaign Registry to publish any Content or undertake any Campaign…. that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable,” the Campaign Registry’s terms state.

While most of the terms on that list have legal definitions (granted, some, like “obscene”, aren’t particularly precise or helpful) we can turn to for guidance, others do not. So far as I’m aware, at least, the term “vulgar” doesn’t have a legal definition. In the dictionary, vulgar is defined as “lacking sophistication or good taste” or being “unrefined.” Would the Campaign Registry decline to certify an adult brand that offers porn which is “lacking in sophistication”, or in the context of a message that is similarly lacking couth? I doubt it. But could they reject a brand on that basis? I don’t see why not; it’s in their terms, after all.

You might be wondering whether you can simply ignore the registration requirement and go about your SMS business as usual. The short answer is no, that’s not a good idea. The longer answer, per Phone.com’s FAQ, is: “If you want to opt out of registering with TCR, you may do so, but you will be unable to use SMS messaging on Phone.com’s network.”

“Phone.com can’t allow unregistered message traffic across our network,” the company further explains. “If you do not complete the registration form, you will have opted out of registration.”

In the immediate term, adult businesses that make use of SMS campaigns to send messages to local U.S. numbers (and who intend to continue to do so) should learn about the registration process offered by their CSP. Some CSPs may have been less proactive about notifying their clients that was Phone.com, so you may not be certain whether yours is participating. While the Campaign Registry website lists dozens of participating CSPs, it also specifies that not every CSP taking part is listed there. To find out whether your CSP is participating, inquire with your CSP, or email info@campaignregistry.com to ask.

For more information, this Forbes article offers additional background on how and why this registration requirement came about, as well as some of the potential advantages of 10-digit long code (“10DLC”) SMS messaging.