Let Your Fingers Do the Countersuing

You may have heard that last month Seattle City Council voted to create an "opt-out" law for phone books. This is the first law of its type in the nation and if Yellow Page publishers Dex One Corp., SuperMedia, and the Yellow Pages Association get their way, it will be the last.

The trio has filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on the grounds that the law violates the companies' Constitutional right to freedom of speech, as well as the interstate commerce clause. They also maintain that an opt-out registry will confuse Washington State consumers.

The City Council has estimated that the law will save the city $350,000 per year in recycling costs. [Ed.: Defending itself from inane lawsuits will of course cut into that.]