Attending the Federal Trade Commission's inaugural town hall meeting last week on mobile marketing and commerce drove home a point: It's not all about marketers.

The two-day event, titled "Beyond Voice: Mapping the Mobile Marketplace," focused on mobile's applications in marketing, commerce and content. Sitting through the panels, it seems the mobile channel's potential has marketers excited, carriers confused, government curious and consumer groups worried.

FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz wasted no time in informing the audience that his agency fully intended to "police the wireless space." Now that mobile's non-voice usage is up and analogous somewhat to early Internet activity, some of the same questions that were raised about online marketing and e-commerce are now being asked of this channel.

The FTC's session agenda pretty much gave the game away of what was on the agency's mind. How to regulate or monitor mobile messaging, games and widgets, location-based services, advertising, behavioral targeting, feature-rich devices and transactions on the phone? How to resolve disputes when the fine print almost sounds liked fined print to the consumer?

More importantly, how should the agency protect the interests of consumers, particularly those most vulnerable -- children, teens and the health-challenged -- while at the same time accommodating the needs of a market economy?

Representatives from industry did a fairly decent job in making their case and explaining the mechanics of mobile marketing and commerce. Lots of numbers were thrown about -- a favorite habit of this industry -- and several presentations run through.

But it would have been nicer if marketers highlighted the human side to the numbers -- the employees and communities that the wireless industry supports, what's the net contribution to local economies and how startups are engineering another technology revolution in this country.

More practical case studies could have been shown, more dispute-resolution examples disclosed. More advertisers should have participated on the panels, instead of just a Procter & Gamble Co. executive. Their story needs to be heard; they're the ones spending the money on mobile marketing.

Consumer-first marketing
The objective of this event was not to dazzle the FTC or the audience, but to educate and perhaps reassure government and public that most mobile marketers are an ethical bunch and follow best practices.

But the sheer discomfort of major consumer groups in the audience was evidence that mobile marketers have to do a lot more in the way of education or else suffer the fate of email and teleservices -- tightly regulated because the channels were abused.

Representatives from several consumer groups were in the audience: Consumer Federation of America, Children Now, American Psychological Association, Council of Better Business Bureaus, National Parent Teacher Association and the Center for Digital Democracy.

These reps were particularly concerned with Big Brother issues related to location-based services and advertising. Who was going to monitor? Who was going to own the data? What was it going to be used for?

They were also exercised over texting. How to ensure that children and teens were not fooled into signing up for supposedly free content that actually led to huge texting and data fees? How to avoid unsolicited text messages? How to curb the costs of text messages?

Also troubling to them was the potential for adult content to infiltrate children and teens' phones.

Other topics deliberated were control of the mobile device as well as bill resolution and fraudulent practices. While it wasn't heavily discussed, security of phones for banking transactions was also raised.

One panelist worried about mobile marketing to minorities such as Hispanics -- huge consumers of mobile -- and African-Americans.

The tenor of some of these consumer groups was quite anti-advertising. Nothing new here. The same groups protested cable television, direct mail and the Internet. But the mobile phone is perhaps the most personal of communication and marketing tools and so these groups' angst is understood.

What is frustrating though is that these consumer groups are rather shrill in their criticism of marketing, but don't offer any viable solutions that would continue to work in a capitalistic market economy.

It's unrealistic to banish advertising, marketing and commerce from mobile, and these consumer groups know that. What they want, however, is some legal framework and laws that protect the interests of consumers from marketing run amuck, whether on mobile or online.

This publication believes more in self-regulation than government intervention. And it does believe in putting the consumer first. Yet it is inevitable that mounting infractions may force the FTC to propose regulations to keep mobile marketing in a straight line.

Trade lobbies such as the Mobile Marketing Association and CTIA -- The Wireless Association have done an admirable job in policing their members, issuing guidelines and holding industry seminars and events.

Perhaps it is time for these associations and their members to engage with key consumer groups to allay their fears, collaborate on consumer-first mobile marketing measures and yet ensure that the wheels of commerce spin.