Sprint Denies PPC customers from sending picmail

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by Draiko

The carriers want to switch everyone over to email usage... that way they don't have to host 1.3+ megapixel pictures on their servers. All those Mobile phone providers shift the costs of storing and sending Picturemail over to the ISPs and Free webmail hosts (google, yahoo, MS...). Am I the only one who sees this?!

That doesn't make sense either - with Telus at least, pictures sent to me are stored on their Snap service, until I transfer them to my Album on my customer-account page... either way, the picture is still stored on one of their servers or another.

Send it via MMS, it passes through their servers, on the destination phone, and it's gone.

And besides, even 2MP pictures shot on my Titan's camera at highest resolution clock in at 256kB max. I could trade in the PPC for a new Ericsson with a 3MP camera and send picture messages again, so what would be the point of it being a "size" issue?

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by wldthng842

Regular phones are very difficult to write programs for, PPC's are very easy to write programs for, especially one that simply sends lots of MMS messages on a client that is already there, this is not BS. It is easy to block any outside user that sends more than X in under Y number of minutes, it is however not easy to distinguish whether an authorized user is sending 50 spam messages or 50 MMS of a friend doing something stupid at a party to all their friends.

WITHIN the phone, maybe... computer-based software that sends messages through a tethered phone is a piece of cake, though, and will work with a non-PPC phone. Motorola Phone Tools will let you send bulk SMS messages from your computer with a Motorola phone attached (like my previous two phones, a V710 and a V3c RAZR); scripting something or writing a custom app to do the same would be a piece of cake for a coder with an SDK.

And for that matter, it's not stopping the spammers from using SMS instead... so what's next, SMS is blocked as well? Maybe they just do away with SMS and MMS support altogether? Then they can get rid of outgoing email service for their internet customers as well, because email spammers can use that too...

Nope. None of Sprint's "excuses" wash. Try again.

[decibel]

Originally Posted by Soundy

That still doesn't make sense - why would that block it for PPC phones but not for regular phones? And again the question, what's the stop the spammers from using a regular phone that does support MMS? Or for that matter, an MMS gateway of their own?

Sorry, but it's still a BS excuse.

Well put. 90% of all spam will be sent from MMSC's hosted on an individual's computer. There are several MMSC applications readily available, NOW SMS MMS Gateway, Mbuni, etc. A spammer would just use whatever is readily available and can't be tracked. Why would they use Sprint's MMS server (which is actually Lightsurf's, owned by Verisign) that would log every connection to it? Don't you think they would use a private server they had control over to prevent logging?

Sprint's "anti-spam" argument is simply a rumor that was generated by some customer-facing rep that wanted to say something clever and believable to take the heat off themselves.

[Pibe38]

Originally Posted by Soundy

That still doesn't make sense - why would that block it for PPC phones but not for regular phones? And again the question, what's the stop the spammers from using a regular phone that does support MMS? Or for that matter, an MMS gateway of their own?

Sorry, but it's still a BS excuse.

While I agree that it does not make sense, I was just calling it like I saw it, what I got from the statment.

In the end, does it really matter? If they release a statement tomorrow saying they blocked it because PPC phones are not supposed to have MMS since they never advertised them to have it, what will be different?

We still don't have MMS whether we call their BS or not.

I'm just trying to save some people aggravation, I see users getting outraged on different forums, etc., and while I do support posting our legitimate concern on how this should be changed, trying to debunk their excuses won't get us anywhere.

[ajones7279]

Originally Posted by Draiko

The carriers want to switch everyone over to email usage... that way they don't have to host 1.3+ megapixel pictures on their servers. All those Mobile phone providers shift the costs of storing and sending Picturemail over to the ISPs and Free webmail hosts (google, yahoo, MS...). Am I the only one who sees this?!

That doesn't make much sense to me. I mean, first off, we're PAYING for the picturemail, it's not like they'd be doing it for free. And secondly, They didn't block all phones, so what if I just go back to my A900 just so I can send my pics??

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by Pibe38

In the end, does it really matter? If they release a statement tomorrow saying they blocked it because PPC phones are not supposed to have MMS since they never advertised them to have it, what will be different?

At least it would be honest, and that would go a long way toward not alienating their customers. Obviously people are steamed about not having a service they want, or are accustomed to, or in some cases have been promised... lying about the reasons under the guise of caring about their customers ("We did it to stop those nasty spammers!") only makes things that much worse.

I'm just trying to save some people aggravation, I see users getting outraged on different forums, etc., and while I do support posting our legitimate concern on how this should be changed, trying to debunk their excuses won't get us anywhere.

Maybe not. Or maybe. Apparently customers are getting a variety of different stories from Sprint as to why their services are being curtailed. If they simply accept this and go about their business on their Sprint phones, nothing will ever change. If we can "debunk their excuses", if enough people realize they're being lied to AS WELL AS getting reduced service, it may be the impetus for more of them to vote with the wallets and take their business elsewhere, which is the only thing that will create a change in Sprint's (or any other provider's) policies.

Frankly, if I were a Sprint customer, I'd probably already be on the way to the Verizon store down the street, and either look at buying out my contract, or do what a friend did when he switched providers and switch my account to the cheapest possible plan and just forward all the calls to my new phone. As it is, I'm very near that point with Telus - the only thing that stopped me from doing it right off was the unbelievable data plan they were offering ($15 unlimited data, are you kidding me?). If one of their competitors (Rogers or Bell) comes up with something close, I may just be encouraged to tell Telus they can stuff their MMS, because they've just lost a 16-year customer.

[ajones7279]

Originally Posted by Pibe38

While I agree that it does not make sense, I was just calling it like I saw it, what I got from the statment.

In the end, does it really matter? If they release a statement tomorrow saying they blocked it because PPC phones are not supposed to have MMS since they never advertised them to have it, what will be different?

We still don't have MMS whether we call their BS or not.

I'm just trying to save some people aggravation, I see users getting outraged on different forums, etc., and while I do support posting our legitimate concern on how this should be changed, trying to debunk their excuses won't get us anywhere.

I get what you mean if they decided to make that argument. That would really suck because it's true even tho some people have been told it has MMS. Wish the site did say MMS. It does say:
2.0 megapixel camera and video camcorder

Capture high-resolution images with the digital camera and zoom. Create your own video clips and easily share them with family and friends.



IMO email isn't an easy way to share

Well here is another case of being lied to, I actually bought my Mogul from Amazon and expected it to have MMS and they are lieing also... Amazon being a big seller for sprint has in its description (bolded the important stuff) but for some reason it says the wing and mogul in same paragraph... somebody copied and pasted... so I guess I gots me a out of my contract and so does everyone else that got theirs from amazon.

"The 2-megapixel autofocus camera (with up to 8x digital zoom) on the back of the Mogul captures images up to 1600 x 1200 pixels (good enough for prints up to 8 x 10 inches). You can make such camera adjustments as white balance and exposure metering, choose from resolution modes (such as sports for fast-moving action) as well as use of the integrated flash, and set a self-timer of either 2 or 10 seconds. Additionally, the Wing can capture video with or without audio (in MPEG-4, 3GPP2, or H.263 format, the latter being best for sending via MMS). You can also play back audio and video files downloaded from the Internet or sent to you via email using the integrated Windows Media Player."

[wldthng842]

Originally Posted by Soundy

WITHIN the phone, maybe... computer-based software that sends messages through a tethered phone is a piece of cake, though, and will work with a non-PPC phone. Motorola Phone Tools will let you send bulk SMS messages from your computer with a Motorola phone attached (like my previous two phones, a V710 and a V3c RAZR); scripting something or writing a custom app to do the same would be a piece of cake for a coder with an SDK.

And for that matter, it's not stopping the spammers from using SMS instead... so what's next, SMS is blocked as well? Maybe they just do away with SMS and MMS support altogether? Then they can get rid of outgoing email service for their internet customers as well, because email spammers can use that too...

Nope. None of Sprint's "excuses" wash. Try again.

And yes that is another option, however it is hard to block. You could set a limit on the number of messages before the server denys access for a while, similar to most password protected sites do with people repeating failed attempts. Sprint will never block all spam messages they are simply removing one avenue. Plus sprint did not remove MMS from the PPC's to eliminate the problem. They removed the ability to use sprints MMS server from all unsupported devices/applications. This would also block laptops logging directly into their server and sending messages, it shouldn't have blocked sending while tethered though.

Originally Posted by decibel

Well put. 90% of all spam will be sent from MMSC's hosted on an individual's computer. There are several MMSC applications readily available, NOW SMS MMS Gateway, Mbuni, etc. A spammer would just use whatever is readily available and can't be tracked. Why would they use Sprint's MMS server (which is actually Lightsurf's, owned by Verisign) that would log every connection to it? Don't you think they would use a private server they had control over to prevent logging?

Sprint's "anti-spam" argument is simply a rumor that was generated by some customer-facing rep that wanted to say something clever and believable to take the heat off themselves.

It could be, but what difference would it make? If they came out and said they removed it because you weren't supposed to have it would you feel better, or would it fix the problem? No. If anything, believing this is true gives hope for them finding an alternative to blocking spam and re enabling PPC's use of MMS. If they blocked so you don't have it what are the chances of them changing their mind in the near future?

Originally Posted by mabru2001

Well here is another case of being lied to, I actually bought my Mogul from Amazon and expected it to have MMS and they are lieing also... Amazon being a big seller for sprint has in its description (bolded the important stuff) but for some reason it says the wing and mogul in same paragraph... somebody copied and pasted... so I guess I gots me a out of my contract and so does everyone else that got theirs from amazon.

"The 2-megapixel autofocus camera (with up to 8x digital zoom) on the back of the Mogul captures images up to 1600 x 1200 pixels (good enough for prints up to 8 x 10 inches). You can make such camera adjustments as white balance and exposure metering, choose from resolution modes (such as sports for fast-moving action) as well as use of the integrated flash, and set a self-timer of either 2 or 10 seconds. Additionally, the Wing can capture video with or without audio (in MPEG-4, 3GPP2, or H.263 format, the latter being best for sending via MMS). You can also play back audio and video files downloaded from the Internet or sent to you via email using the integrated Windows Media Player."

This is not Sprint's problem, yes they would probably help you out, but really this is something that you should take up with Amazon. They should in theory have to pay you the ETF as they are the ones mislabeling the device. But they can also say that they use the same paragraph to market both the mogul and the wing (two seperate devices) so that users simply read one paragraph about the device as they have similar features (not identical) and then choose the model that works with their carrier. At which point, they would tell you that you did not purchase the Wing, you purchased a Mogul which does not support MMS.

Originally Posted by Soundy

Me neither... dammit. Where do I sign up for that??

I agree, I think porn spams would be nice to get while at work, might make the day more enjoyable.

[wldthng842]

Originally Posted by decibel

Well put. 90% of all spam will be sent from MMSC's hosted on an individual's computer. There are several MMSC applications readily available, NOW SMS MMS Gateway, Mbuni, etc. A spammer would just use whatever is readily available and can't be tracked. Why would they use Sprint's MMS server (which is actually Lightsurf's, owned by Verisign) that would log every connection to it? Don't you think they would use a private server they had control over to prevent logging?

Sprint's "anti-spam" argument is simply a rumor that was generated by some customer-facing rep that wanted to say something clever and believable to take the heat off themselves.

I have a thought, not a good one but whatever.
What server are these programs using to send MMS messages, why can't we use arcsoft to send using these servers insteads of sprints?