Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by WarOnPrivacy 604 days ago
TCR is as much a problem as it is a solution. As a pay-for play registry, it silently sabotages legit SMS messages from VoIP (MNVO, etc) - while allowing plenty of SMS traffic that end users don't want.

My phone # is a VoIP that forwards to my T-Mobile cell. SMS stopped reaching my phone because T-Mobile silently dropped them. I now forward them to my AT&T # (as long as I can) and to my email.

TCR explainer: The Campaign Registry is an industry-led effort to reduce spam, mostly spearheaded by T-Mobile. It isn't fully baked and is far too simplistically implemented.

It is supposed to (only) apply to SMS originating from biz. However, it is a wide and leaky net that captures both more and less than it should.

SMS from biz that pay/register with the TCR are unfettered; they can mass message. SMS sent from consumers via wireless carriers (like T-Mobile) are similarly unmolested.

But SMS sent from VoIP services (that compete with wireless carriers) get interpreted as biz-originated and get dropped silently.

Past that, another major issue with TCR is that it doesn't meaningfully discriminate between major SMS campaigns and the most minimal+routine SMS usage.

My biz clients provide product support to their customers and a handful of SMS messages may be involved. Even so, they are required to jump thru the same hoops as huge entities that send millions of SMS.

Within that context, I found that registering and working with TCR was so onerous/expensive that we're 1) ignoring it as long as we can and 2) considering workarounds.

2 comments

Yes, I should have perhaps more clearly stated that while the ostensible goal of TCR is reduce spam, it is at least as much about control and rent seeking.
Is there a client-side way to tell if an SMS is sent via TCR?

If so, I’m guessing a good chunk of the US would pay for an app that silences the notifications and auto-responds STOP.

> Is there a client-side way to tell if an SMS is sent via TCR?

The TCR is a list that wireless carriers use to decide if they'll let a SMS message proceed or not.

I doubt the message itself indicates that it was weighed against the TCR list (it would require modifying the message).

Yeah, this isn't like e-mail headers where different hops in routing will insert additional information.