Marketers salivate over new communication technologies that provide new opportunities to reach customers. The idea of blasting out hundreds of text messages over a cell phone SMS system must have seemed particularly appealing to the folks at carsales.com.au. The company harvested the phone numbers from newspaper classified ads and sent messages pitching the company’s services.

I don’t know if they got any business from the messages, but they did get fined. The company paid $6,600 after recipients of the messages complained to the Australian Communications Authority. The messages, it turns out, qualified as a violation of the Spam Act passed last year.

The company claimed the messages seemed like a good idea since they’re less intrusive than a cold telemarketing phone call. (Less expensive, too, although the company didn’t point that out.) But the Authority said the messages were spam because the recipients didn’t have an existing relationship with the company, nor had they given the company explicit permission to send them messages.

The Act covers instant messaging, too. An article about the fine is at smh.com.au.