Facts

Edward Fields filed a class action against Wise Media LLC, Mobile Messenger Americas Inc., mBlox Inc., and Motricity Inc. for engaging in a scam known as "cramming" in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Plaintiffs sought to certify two classes and one subclass.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs contended that the defendants enrolled consumers in short message service (SMS) text subscription plans without their knowledge or consent. The subscription came with monthly membership fees of $9.99, and provided consumers with trivia or horoscope information. Plaintiffs contended that Federal Trade Commission condemned the practice, which also known as "cramming."

In addition to involuntarily enrolling plaintiffs to one of the subscription plans, defendants also sent plaintiffs numerous unsolicited messages.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendants contended that plaintiffs voluntarily subscribed to receive the SMS text messages. Plaintiffs did so by entering their information into Wise Media's websites.

Result

U.S. District Judge William Alsup denied plaintiffs' motion for class certification for failing to show predominance of common issues with regard to the proposed nationwide classes and failing to show numerosity with regard to the proposed California subclass.