Nov 16 - WA - Seattle Sued Over Newly Passed Phone Book Ordinance

Seattle recently passed a city ordinance that would create a telephone directory opt-out registry. Dex One Corp., SuperMedia, and Yellow Pages Association have filed a lawsuit alleging that the new regulations violate their right to free speech by singling them out with fees not imposed on other media, meddles with interstate commerce and compromises the privacy rights of Seattle residents by requiring the industry to hand over private information to the city.

The ordinance, which will go into effect next year, created an opt-out registry for the phone books for businesses and residents who don't want them, requires publishers to pay for the costs of operating the registry and penalizes publishers who continue to deliver books when requested not to.

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