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Had a reader email me and ask me what I knew about SMSC crime. Not a lot, other than a passing awareness, was my answer. I said I’d make like a Who Wants to be a Millionaire and ask the audience. Is it an issue?

The total value of the international mobile music market will grow to over $17.5 billion by 2012, galvanized by subscription services and full-track downloads, according to a new report issued by market analysis firm Juniper Research. Juniper forecasts that the China/Far East region will remain the largest mobile music marketplace, generating roughly 43 percent of annual sales over the next five years. However, ringtones--long the marquee attraction of mobile music services, accounting for 62 percent of the mobile music market in 2007--will total just 38 percent by 2012, a decline Juniper blames on an unsustainable pricing model. "With some operators now offering full-track downloads at a comparable price to iTunes, there is little justification for a ringtone retail price point that is in many cases two or even three times this level," said report author Dr. Windsor Holden in a prepared statement. "Furthermore, those aggregators whose portfolios are largely dependent upon the polyphonic ringtone will be unable to survive in the medium term unless they both rethink their pricing strategies and substantially diversify their product portfolios." For more on the Juniper report: - read this release Related articles: Forecast: Online music distribution to dwarf mobile Jamba, EMI launch DRM-free mobile music service

Have a read of this one… Link: Calls for Tax Exemption for Charity Sms Donations Vir2, a provider of SMS marketing and fundraising solutions for charities, has welcomed the decision by UK politican, Mark Oaten MP to file an Early Day Motion calling upon the Government to stop charging VAT (sales tax) on UK charity donations made [...]

I called mobile service provider plusCONNECT this afternoon in relation to a story I’m doing on mobile music. A friend of mine sent me a Facebook message asking for me to download music from his friend’s unsigned band — and to do so (and pay) via text message. Neat. Social networking and [...]

Fake texting, the dark art very well known to anyone who’s spent five minutes with a chap from a mobile aggregator, has been continuing to hit the headlines in India. Indeed, so much so, that Yahoo News reports that two high profile lawsuits depend on mystery texts. Allowing almost anyone to set the originator [...]

Got this one from Esendex chap, Julian Hucker. Esendex are a mobile services company. Incentivated is a mobile marketing services company. They’re not immediate competitors. Which is why Julian was rather susprised to find that Incentivated have been reportedly using his company name as a keyword in Google. Link: Julian Hucker A quick [...]