I've seen the TV ads and maybe you have, too. "Get a free ringtone. Simply text (whatever) and get (name of hit song) as a ringtone!"

Well, it's a scam. It's not free. In fact, writes Stephen Lawson for The Industry Standard, it's a lot more costly than a regular ringtone. This is because you get multiple texts in reply, with directions for the download, and these texts cost money -- $1.99 plus call charges each. It's an easy case to make, it's simple consumer fraud, it's aimed at teenagers. A state attorney general who wants to make a name for himself (or herself) can have a field day with this.

Want to know the best part?

It's being done by Verisign, the company Dana (allegedly) loves to hate. It seems Verisign bought Jamba, a German ringtone purveyor, last year and then moved into the U.S. market with the Jamster trademark. (That's CEO Stratton Sclavos to the left, from another Mooreslore blog entry.) Verisign is buying the ads, and Verisign is behind the (alleged but seemingly very easy to prove) bait-and-switch fraud of teenagers.

If this were an ordinary scam I doubt much would come from it. Ordinary scamsters can head into the walls when caught, like the cockroaches they are. But Verisign controls much of the DNS, and their contract to run .Net registrations is under review. They have deep pockets. They have notoreity. They have government contracts.

Once these simple connections are made there is no telling where this scandal could lead.

Couldn't happen to more deserving people, in my opinion. If Sclavos survives this one I will be surprised.