M'SIAN MULTIMEDIA COMMISSION CONSTANTLY MONITORING TEXT MESSAGES

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is constantly monitoring text messages either those sent by individuals or content providers.

Deputy Energy, Water and Communications Minister Joseph Salang Gandum
said those spreading obscene, fraudulent or threatening text messages, can be
taken action under the law.

Replying to Raime Unggi, a member of Parliament (MP) during question time in
the Lower House of Parliament Wednesday, he said, those found guilty under
Section 233 of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 can be fined
up to RM50,000 or a maximum of a year in jail, or both.

Raime wanted to know how far the government was able to contain what he
described as "SMS pirates", including those involved in sending chain text
messages.

Salang said apart from messages sent by individuals, there were two sources
of text messages, one from telecommunication companies using the 2XXXX code
while the other was from content poviders using the 3XXXX or 6XXXX code.


"Text messages sent from the 3XXXX or 6XXXX numbers are free of charge and
can only be sent to subscribers.

"Those who receive messages from these numbers can opt out by replying
'KELUAR' or 'OUT'," he said, adding that consumers can also contact the content
providers directly to request that they be excluded from the loop.

He also advised consumer to read the terms and conditions before opting to
subscribe a service.

-- BERNAMA