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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!akgub!cylixd!dave
From: dave@cylixd.UUCP (Dave Kirby)
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: International Star Registry - A Clever Scam?
Message-ID: <528@cylixd.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 26-Nov-85 16:03:03 EST
Article-I.D.: cylixd.528
Posted: Tue Nov 26 16:03:03 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 28-Nov-85 03:33:11 EST
Reply-To: dave@cylixd.UUCP (Dave Kirby)
Organization: RCA Cylix Communications , Memphis, TN
Lines: 37


It's Christmas season again, and time for the annual deluge of
advertisements on talk radio stations concerning the "International
Star Registry." In case some of you have not heard this commercial,
here is approximately how it goes:

"Tired of giving the same old gifts year after year? Well, why not
this Christmas give somebody you love something really unique - why
not name a star after them? That's right, a star. For $35, the
International Star Registry will name a star after anyone you choose.
Think of it! Their name will be immortally assigned to a star; it's
a gift that will outlive the one you give it to. The person receiving
the gift will receive a beautiful four-colour parchment, certifying
that the star has been named after him, and a sky chart showing the 
exact location of the star. All names will be compiled in a book of
registry to go in the Library of Congress. This season, why not give 
a gift that will last a lifetime? The International Star Registry. 
Your unique gift is just a toll-free phone call away. Why not do it 
today?"

Now this carefully worded ad sounds real nice, but it occurs to me that
I could say the exact same thing this ad says if I just decide to call
myself "International Star Registry," get a sky atlas, and start naming
stars after people for a $35 fee; after all, it only costs me $10 to the
Copyright Office to get any book registered with the Library of Congress.
(ANY published work submitted for copyright registration must be 
accompanied by a second edition that will automatically go in the 
Library of Congress.) So once I have named a few stars, I send in my 
10 bucks and presto! The International Star Registry book is now 
"official!"

"International Star Registry" does not sound like the name of a
legitimate astronomical society. Has anyone out there ever heard of it?
Or is it, as I suspect, a clever scam?

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Dave Kirby    ( ...!ihnp4!akgub!cylixd!dave)