In the middle of the night, Laci Satterfield heard a beep. She picked up her cell phone and saw a new text message. “The next call you take may be your … Join the Stephen King VIP Mobile Club at www.cellthebook.com,” it read. Though the late night ring was something straight out of a King novel, Satterfield wasn’t creeped out–she was mad.
Sometime before she received the text message, Satterfield had registered her son for a free ringtone from Nextones. To get the ringtone, Satterfield had to check a box on Nextones’ Web site agreeing to “receive promotions from Nextones affiliates and brands.” A separate company, Mobile Information Access Co., subsequently provided Internet-marketing firm ipsh!, which Simon & Schuster commissioned to handle the King promotional campaign, with phone numbers from 100,000 Nextones subscribers.
