Mobile Content: Overcharges Got You Over a Barrel?

Washington, DCIn the good old days you got what you paid for, and you knew what you were buying. But in this newfound era of intellectual property, wireless communication and mobile everything, it's often hard to quantify, or even identify services, cost or return on investment. The whole thing can leave you fuming over extra fees and overcharges for everything from mobile content, to advertising.

And it's enough to leave your head spinning. Cell phone service providers charge their clients for a basket of services that some people don't want, or don't know they have. Still others are paying for services they thought they were getting for free, such as mobile web browsing or text messaging.

And advertisers, both on the web and for mobile, are having a hard time getting what they pay for, thanks to automated software that utilize parked web pages to facilitate ad clicks that cost the advertiser in clicks, but don't deliver the web links—or more importantly, client and customer referrals.

As for the content providers, they seem perfectly willing to take the money from a stressed-out, time-crunched populous that lacks the time or strength to chase potentially rogue overcharges. You want to bet they're counting on that. After attempting to wade through reams of documents and activity statements at the end of a long, hard day, we are more inclined to just say, "Bugger it," and pay the damn bill.

And we're playing, and paying right into their hands.

Once upon a time it was possible for the average Joe or Josephine to ride shotgun over their communications services. You knew, for example, that your phone cost you so much per month, with additional charges for long distance—charges that were spelled out in a simple format and easily understood.

For the advertiser, buying space in a magazine or newspaper, or on television or radio, there always was a bit of the rolling of the dice: you were never guaranteed paying customers as the result of your advertising. But then, a guarantee of paying customers was never the point. What you were buying was paid circulation, or a collection of listeners or viewers that were quantified by standard means. And traditional media can identify the profile of its audience, which helps the advertiser target specific demographics.

It was all so easy.

Now, you have a cell phone or portable Internet device that allows the user to do a myriad of tasks on the fly. But just try wading through your monthly statement. What do those charges really mean, and are you being ripped off?

Same goes for the advertiser, targeting you. Is he really getting what he pays for?
What's the return on investment? And are you so busy being busy, that you haven't the time to figure out if you're being ripped off?

That's what a qualified mobile content attorney is for—to help you wade through the confusion, the smoke-and-mirrors, and get to the bottom of your real, financial relationship with your service provider, whomever and whatever they may be.

Most recall that it was not that long ago when people were trying to figure out just how to make money from this wonderful, new but intangible thing known as the Internet, and laterally—mobile.

That's no longer an issue, as on-line and mobile advertising as evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry.

The problem is knowing just how many of those billions have been earned as the result of honest clients being scammed.

That's what a qualified attorney can help you figure out…