About $15.3 billion in revenue. [1] I'm not a fan of organized littering and haven't used the yellow pages in years. I can see how it makes sense for all the vendors of a particular service cluster together, in the Steven Johnson _Emergence_ sense [2].
It's smart. I've lived in college towns before, and yellowpage delivery day results in one of two things - garbage cans filled to the brim, or drinking games centered around towers of yellowpages. Younger demographics simply aren't going to flip through a paper index when they can find the info they want on yelp/google/etc. If SF is at a point where they've embraced a digital distribution of resources and information to the point where the Yellow Pages are no longer necessary, then they'd be foolish not to stop the distribution of them (or to at least make them opt-in instead of opt-out, as described here). That said, I'd love to see some empirical evidence as to what percentage of the SF population still uses them.
That makes more sense, but it's still kinda nasty.
It would however have the advantage that you could monitor your rate of egg consumption by examining the first letters of the services advertised on the top page.
Do you think the spam will continue being sent to millions of addresses that won't receive it, or do you think the spam will start getting sent first class?
Is there any precedent at all for an enforceable regulation banning a particular form of speech by declaring it "wasteful"? That it clearly is wasteful is besides the point.
The form of speech itself isn't banned, merely the method of distribution. The FCC bans broadcasting without a license (wasting bandwidth), and most areas would frown on scattering pamphlets on the ground (littering).
More to the point, at least one form of wasteful marketing speech has been heavily regulated nation-wide: spam, since the CAN-SPAM act.
That isn't the theory under which CAN-SPAM operates. Spam is banned because the recipient bears most of the cost of its distribution. That simply isn't the case with direct mail.
> Is there any precedent at all for an enforceable regulation banning a particular form of speech by declaring it "wasteful"?
It isn't banning a form of speech, but a form of distribution.
Consider this: If I wrote "Obama sucks" on a note and posted it on my own bulletin board, it would be perfectly legal. If I got a can of spray-paint and sprayed it on your house without your consent, that's illegal. The content of my message has no bearing on whether my distribution method is legal.
I believe if you write "Obama will die" on a note and post it. The SS will visit you. If you live in another country, and send just a simple angry email to White House, they'll ban you from USA[0].
About time. I have been getting these for years and never even unwrapped the plastic. It is a massive waste. Four phone books have sat unopened in the lobby of my apartment for weeks now. No-one wants them and no-one wants to throw them away.
How about a comprise: deliver the phone books on one (1) CD. Trees are saved, publishers cut costs, local business still get advertising space surrounded by phone numbers, directories are now grep-able and therefore better, and residents get free AOL-style Frisbees so they can party like it's 1999. I have no idea if a CD is worse in a landfill than a CD, but I would be more likely to make use of a free Frisbee than a free doorstop.
29 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 66.9 ms ] thread1. http://www.simbainformation.com/pub/2523077.html
2. http://books.google.com/books?id=qAtgKyaLH4MC&pg=PA107&#...
The people getting yellowpages are the product.
Its basically a giant set of paper plates and/or placemats. Use, rip off the top page or two, throw away!
As in: Bake bead, fry eggs with mushrooms/whatever. Place fried egg atop bread. Eat over phone book instead of eating over plate.
Terrible mess from egg drippings? Rip out pages and throw away!
You don't even have to let the food you eat come into contact with the book itself if you don't want to.
It would however have the advantage that you could monitor your rate of egg consumption by examining the first letters of the services advertised on the top page.
also: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt063.shtm
More to the point, at least one form of wasteful marketing speech has been heavily regulated nation-wide: spam, since the CAN-SPAM act.
It isn't banning a form of speech, but a form of distribution.
Consider this: If I wrote "Obama sucks" on a note and posted it on my own bulletin board, it would be perfectly legal. If I got a can of spray-paint and sprayed it on your house without your consent, that's illegal. The content of my message has no bearing on whether my distribution method is legal.
[0] http://mashable.com/2010/09/14/luke-angel-barack-obama-e-mai...