This would be a content neutral basis for regulation and would put the kibosh on phone books (and anything else that fit the bill). Unsolicited advice to the City of Seattle: how would I tackle this issue? I would regulate the delivery of any unsolicited pamphlets or books that are over a certain weight. I wonder what types of other mixed editorial/advertising content could benefit from this rule? Eric–in his typically entertaining and on-point way–tees off on the distinction between advertising content and editorial content and the test used for determine the level of protection for expression that contains both (instant classic: “he Ninth Circuit’s opinion was fine. I didn’t think this statute had a very good chance of surviving, but I thought the court would focus more on the fit, the licensing, and the exceptions. The court goes on to say that the district court’s attempt to distinguish Yellow Pages from media such as newspapers based on the role the latter plays in our democracy does not work: “he First Amendment does not make protection contingent on the perceived value of certain speech.”Ī good and obviously First Amendment-friendly ruling that has the effect of undermining a well-intentioned but poorly crafted piece of legislation. A profit motive and the inclusion or creation of noncommercial content in order to reach a broader audience and attract more advertising is present across all of them. Ultimately, we do not see a principled reason to treat telephone directories differently from newspapers, magazines, television programs, radio shows, and similar media that does not turn on an evaluation of their contents. The fact that phone book companies depend on advertising revenue isn’t dispositive:
#Dex white pages full
The Ninth Circuit disagrees and says that Yellow Pages are entitled to full First Amendment protection.
#Dex white pages trial
The trial court said that the Yellow Pages were commercial speech. The Ninth Circuit reversed, in a ruling that focuses almost exclusively on the level of protection accorded to Yellow Pages directories. (Here’s our blog post on the injunctive relief ruling: “ Judge Refuses to Block Seattle’s Yellow Pages Opt-out Law - Dex Media v. The trial court denied their request for an injunction, and later granted summary judgment to the City. Some Yellow Pages publishers challenged the ordinance on First Amendment, commerce clause, and state law grounds. The ordinance exempted certain publications, including “membership organization” directories and residential telephone directories that did not contain any “yellow pages” advertising. The City of Seattle thought that Yellow Pages were not particularly useful and created unnecessary waste, so it required Yellow Pages distributors obtain a license, publish a notice regarding a new City-created opt-out registry, and pay fees for each book distributed.
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