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24th Jun 2009

*MEDIA ALERT: AIME to co-ordinate industry response to PhonepayPlus 12th Code of Practice*

London 24th June, 2009 – AIME, the industry association for interactive media and entertainment, welcomes today’s announcement by PhonepayPlus that it intends to undertake a significant review of its Code of Practice.

Today’s announcement launched a wide-ranging discussion paper on the development of the 12th Code and takes into account Ofcom’s current Scope Review Consultation as a foundation for four main changes to the current regulatory regime.

AIME has represented member views (which includes all areas of the value chain) to both Ofcom and PhonepayPlus over the past twelve months on key areas where industry and regulators can work more effectively and ultimately create a regulatory environment that strikes a balance where regulation protects consumers but remains business enabling.

A significant part of creating a good business environment is the industry working together to build trust in the market and raise standards, whereby the regulator becomes a last resort backstop for Code enforcement. This will enable PhonepayPlus to take a fresh approach with its 12th Code of Practice which is more principles based than prescriptive.

In 2007, on the back of TV voting headlines and issues with subscription services AIME set out its key criteria for a better regulatory environment.
It is pleased to note that many parts have been included in the PhonepayPlus discussion document and also the Ofcom Scope Review.

These include:
- Proportional regulatory responsibility though the value chain
- Centralised database of all companies that wish to promote premium
rate services
- Improvement of end to end Customer Care processes

To this end AIME has succeeded in working with members to develop and co-ordinate industry best practice in the following areas:
- Guide for PTV using Mobile SMS & VSC
- Customer Care Guide
- Mobile Terminating Provider Best Practice
- Merchant Promoter Registration Scheme
- Call Cost Transparency, callcosts.co.uk

Commenting, Edward Boddington, AIME Chairman said: "It is of critical importance that industry works with the regulator to ensure a co-ordinated approach to building a trusted interactive entertainment industry. This will enable new services to be developed and generate greater mainstream applications. Already this year we have seen the benefits of 2 years of AIME activity building this trusted business environment, with Comic Relief launching a £5 tariff (generating substantial amounts for charity), and Jury Team using PRS as a voting platform for the European Elections. AIME, as part of our response to the Scope and this 12th Code consultation, have set out to the regulators our measurement criteria of what we determine to be a successful regulatory environment. We look forward to working closely with them to achieve our goals."