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Sightline: Most States Still Mandate White Pages Delivery
Last year, Seattle passed a law allowing residents to put their names on an opt-out list for yellow pages, ensuring (in theory) that people who don't want to receive a yellow page directory won't have to. (Previously, universal delivery was automatic. Now, the city can fine companies that deliver phone books to residents who have said they don't want them.)
But here's the crazy thing: Most states, including Washington State, still require phone-book companies to deliver a copy of the white pages (residential listings) to all state residents. Although Seattle residents can opt out of white pages delivery along with yellow pages (phone-book companies are fine with this since residential listings, unlike the ad-heavy yellow pages, don't make them any money), most state residents don't have that option.
Video by Sightline's Clark Williams-Derry.
Sightline reports that according to a recent study, seven out of 10 US adults rarely or never use the white pages, and that 87 percent support a system that would allow them to "opt in" and receive white pages only on request. Meanwhile, 16 states---from Alabama to California---have given residents the option not to receive white pages. That mix, Sightline suggests, shows that "the appeal of ending mandatory white pages delivery crosses partisan lines; phone book laws make even the conservative Heartland Institute sound like a bunch of tree-huggers."
It's a great example of state law failing to keep up with the political (and technological) times. Requiring white-page delivery in 2012 is like mandating that all bills be paid by mail: There may be a few outliers who really have no other choice, but for the rest of us, there are easier (and greener) options.
But here's the crazy thing: Most states, including Washington State, still require phone-book companies to deliver a copy of the white pages (residential listings) to all state residents. Although Seattle residents can opt out of white pages delivery along with yellow pages (phone-book companies are fine with this since residential listings, unlike the ad-heavy yellow pages, don't make them any money), most state residents don't have that option.
Video by Sightline's Clark Williams-Derry.
Sightline reports that according to a recent study, seven out of 10 US adults rarely or never use the white pages, and that 87 percent support a system that would allow them to "opt in" and receive white pages only on request. Meanwhile, 16 states---from Alabama to California---have given residents the option not to receive white pages. That mix, Sightline suggests, shows that "the appeal of ending mandatory white pages delivery crosses partisan lines; phone book laws make even the conservative Heartland Institute sound like a bunch of tree-huggers."
It's a great example of state law failing to keep up with the political (and technological) times. Requiring white-page delivery in 2012 is like mandating that all bills be paid by mail: There may be a few outliers who really have no other choice, but for the rest of us, there are easier (and greener) options.
