There’s a huge backlash against mobile spam going on in China right now. The General Manager on one of China’s biggest outdoor media companies, Focus Media, blithely revealed that the company was in possession of around 200 millions mobile phone numbers and had been sending out 100 million unsolicited messages every day. This is in a country with around 400 million mobile phones currently.

With a delicious sense of unintended irony, the interview tool place on World Consumer Rights Day - nice timing!

The impact of the interview has been immediate and dramatic. I doubt if the GM concerned would have heard of Gerald Ratner’s infamous Institute of Directors speech*, which ultimately cost him his job and control of his family jewellery business, but I’m sure it would resonate today with him. Focus has lost 25% of the value of its share price, been denied access to their message service port by China Mobile and rumours abound that it’ll lose it’s service provider status.

I have no sympathy. If you’re running a push based service, you must ask the recipient’s permission to engage with them and I don’t care if that’s via email, Bluetooth or Over the Air in a mobile context, or if you think you’re operating in an unregulated market or sector. You might be able to make hay for a while, but the twin grim reapers of consumer backlash and regulation will get you in the end and close you down.

* Ratner said that some of the earrings he sold were “cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but probably wouldn’t last as long.” This led to a hounding by the press and a boycott of his products by offended consumers. Ouch.