The Stop The Jamster! Commercials

BACKGROUND
Jamster!, a subsidiary of telecommunications corporation VeriSign, Inc., is the company behind the commercials that solicit mobile phone ringtones, backgrounds and various other media. The commercials originally began airing in the United Kingdom, and have since found their way to the United States.

Viacom International, Inc. is the parent corporation for the television networks on which the large percentage of Jamster! commercials air (See listing below).

PETITION
We, the Undersigned, are calling for Viacom International, Inc. to place an immediate stop to the Jamster! commercials which have recently flooded the airwaves in the United States on cable television stations such as BET, Comedy Central, MTV, MTV2 and VH1 among others.

Jamster! commercials feature advertisements claiming the ability to receive a variety of "free" ringtones, backgrounds, screen savers and other accessories for mobile phones. During the commercial, disclaimer text often scrolls across the top of the screen and appears statically appears at the bottom. The text informs you that in fact you will be charged a fee for the Jamster! service. The text is barely legible on television sets smaller than 25 inches. This fee will be billed to a mobile phone invoice or, even worse, deducted from a pre-paid account which may not have the funds available and thus render the phone unusable.

Promoting a "free" product by informing the consumer of the hidden charges in fine print is misleading advertisement at best, especially for a product aimed at a younger, more impulsive viewing audience who may not fully comprehend the billing process. A child of any age, equipped with a mobile phone, can fully initiate and complete the sales process; a situation which reeks of impropriety.

Perhaps the largest factor is the commercials annoyance. Jamster! commercials can appear as many as 4 times during a single half-hour program block and have been noted to appear back-to-back in some cases. A quick web search on a variety of terms (ie. 'jamster commercials') will yield a large amount of blog and forum posts where aggravated viewers sound off on the commercials, including turning off the TV or changing the channel. In addition, a portion may find the Jamster! comemrcials offensive. Is this really the type of relationship you are trying to establish with your viewership?

We hereby call for all Jamster! commercials to be pulled from Viacom -owned national and local commercial programming for the sake of preserving your company's integrity and our sanity!