Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!apple!sun-barr!lll-winken!telecom-request From: ndallen@contact.uucp (Nigel Allen) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Supreme Court: White Pages Not Copyrightable Message-ID: Date: 7 Apr 91 04:55:00 GMT Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Reply-To: ndallen@contact.uucp Organization: 52 Manchester Avenue, Toronto, Ontario Lines: 26 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 270, Message 9 of 14 Even if a directory publisher unaffiliated with the local telephone company is free to reprint listings from the local telephone book, those listings will still be somewhat out of date compared to those available in the telephone company's database. The telco directory is only published once a year, and has a cut-off date some months before the actual publication date to allow for typesetting, printing, binding, etc. So a reputable competitive directory publisher may well want the actual telco database in order to produce a relatively current book (and to avoid the expense of re-entering the information from the printed telco directory). In general, can competitive directory publishers get this information for a fee from the telco? (I suspect that this varies between the states, as I have not seen any references to U.S. federal policy on competitive directories.) Nigel Allen ndallen@contact.uucp [Moderator's Note: I don't think telco has to sell them anything except phone service. I certainly don't think telco would have to sell them access to their data base or up to the minute mag tapes. I guess by this new rule telco can't stop them from copying the directory by hand, however. PAT]