AT&T Guilty of Spamming Its Customers?

For any AT&T customers who have ever voted for American Idol or are simply "heavy texters", you may have received a curious SMS on Tuesday:

Some AT&T Wireless customers have voted an emphatic no on a promotion for "American Idol" that popped up on their phones this week.

AT&T, a sponsor of the show, said it sent text messages to a "significant number" of its 75 million customers, urging them to tune in to the season premiere on Tuesday night. 

Mark Siegel, a spokesman for AT&T Wireless, said the message was meant as a friendly reminder. "We want people to watch the show and participate," Siegel said. He added, "It makes perfect sense to use texting to tell people about a show built on texting."

In the advertisement, AT&T told recipients to "Get ready for American Idol" and pointed them to a company Web site promoting an "Idol"-related sweepstakes. It noted that recipients were not charged for the message, and that they could opt out of future advertisements by responding with the word "stop."

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