SAN JOSE, Calif. - Pressured by a lawsuit that was settled Tuesday, Facebook plans to reduce the number of unwanted text messages its members send to people with recycled cell-phone numbers.
Facebook agreed to do so in documents filed Dec. 14 in a federal court in San Jose.
The settlement was announced by attorneys for Lindsey Abrams, of Patriot, Ind., who filed a lawsuit claiming that Abrams received unwanted text messages containing explicit and upsetting comments after getting a recycled cell-phone number. The suit also claimed that thousands of unwanted text messages had been sent nationwide to other recycled phone numbers, including some used by children.
Abrams claimed that Facebook had been profiting from text messages sent by its members after the intended recipients had given up the phone numbers.
Abrams was charged 10 cents per text message. According to the complaint, Facebook received a share of the fee.
While Facebook did not admit any wrongdoing, the company agreed to make it easier for recipients of text messages to block messages originating from its social network. The company said it will work more closely with mobile-phone carriers to monitor the lists of recycled numbers and reduce the number of unwanted text messages.
Facebook also agreed to pay Abrams' legal fees. The amount will be determined in court hearings in 2008.
Abrams said she started receiving unwanted text messages after getting a new cell-phone number from Verizon Communications in November 2006.
Facebook, which is based in Palo Alto, Calif., has 58 million members. Nearly 40 million joined in the past eight months.
