Verizon Changes Its Stance on NARAL Texting

Lolita — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:26:16 -0700

I wrote to Jeffrey Nelson at Verizon and got this response:

Thank you for contacting us on this important issue. We issued the following statement this morning. Please share with interested folks.

JNels

VERIZON WIRELESS STATEMENT ON TEXT MESSAGING

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – On Wednesday, September 26, Verizon Wireless received a letter from NARAL regarding the company’s policy on text messaging. The following statement may be attributed to Jeffrey Nelson, spokesperson for Verizon Wireless.

Verizon to its customers: NARAL 2 CNTRVSL 4 U

Elizabeth — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 05:33:33 -0700

The New York Times reports this morning that Verizon has rejected a proposal by Naral Pro-Choice America to use its network for sending text messages to people who sign up for them. Other cell phone networks have accepted the proposal which allows subscribers to sign up to receive text message updates from NARAL.

According to a communication with Verizon that NARAL gave to the times, the company's policy is to reject proposals from groups that “promote an agenda or distribute content that, in its [Verizon's] discretion, may be seen as controversial or unsavory to any of our users.”

There are at least three very troubling pieces of this rationale.