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From: rs55611@ihuxk.UUCP (Robert E. Schleicher)
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Re: International Star Registry - A Clever Scam?
Message-ID: <1036@ihuxk.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 2-Dec-85 13:36:06 EST
Article-I.D.: ihuxk.1036
Posted: Mon Dec  2 13:36:06 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 3-Dec-85 08:14:45 EST
References: <528@cylixd.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 74

> 
> 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?
> 
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> Dave Kirby    ( ...!ihnp4!akgub!cylixd!dave)

As you suspected, the International Star Registry is a first-class
rip-off (in my humble opinion only).  The new star names aren't recognized
by any astronomical society, who all use the internationally accepted
star names (ie., Messier numbers, traditional names for prominent stars,
etc.)

You could do the same thing for anything else, like:
- insect species
- buildings in Chicago
- tropical islands

Anyone can publish a book that renamed the Sears Tower after you, as
an extreme example.  The problem is, even if their "official book" now
called the Sears Tower the "Joe Blow Tower", no one else in the world
would call it that, and the plaque on the entry-way would still say
Sears.  The only reason this outfit can get away with naming stars
is that less than 1% of the general populace knows the real names
(actually, a lot less than that), so no one is going to argue with you
that "Joe Blow's Star" is actually M77398 in the astronomer's star charts.
Even if the star has no name to begin with, don't expect any astronomers
to pay any attention to these new names.

You could better spend your money by having your own certificate
printed, because that's the only thing of value here.  And why stop
at stars that are too dim to see anyway?  How about:
- pick an unnamed section of Antarctica, and name it for your dog
- name a new "part of the human body"
   (eg. start calling the wrinkled skin on the back of the knuckle
        of your left pinky, the "Smith's Epidermal Fold"
- Put up a street sign on your driveway, naming it "(your name here) Court"

See, there are all sorts of opportunitis to have things named after
you, if you only use your imagination as well as the International Star
Registry does!

Bob Schleicher