Wednesday, February 2, 2011

San Francisco May Ban the Phone Book

San Francisco obviously doesn't like the free markets. Their attack on free market activities continues to amaze me. You may remember SF launched the war against the Happy Meal. Well, now they are launching a war against the phone book. Now remember, phone books are printed by private companies who sell advertising, and while they aren't as common as they used to be--kind of like Newspapers, if you know what I mean--they still are a legitimate form of commerce that SF now wants to outlaw.

On Tuesday, the city’s Board of Supervisors President David Chiu introduced legislation that would ban the unsolicited distribution of the Yellow Pages.

The argument of course overlooks the jobs created by producing a phone book, which are recyclable and made from recycled materials in most cases, and it centers around the environment.

“If we’re serious about the environment, it‘s time we recognize that phone books are a 20th century tool that doesn’t meet the business or environmental needs of the 21st century,” said Chiu.

I think this discriminates, especially against seniors who haven't adopted the Internet as a useful tool for their lives. How are they going to be able to look up doctors and other services if they aren't allowed a phone book? SF is attacking an industry once again, just like they did the fast food industry rather than giving people the freedom to choose whether or not they want a phone book or not.

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