Re: alias in phone book

[dmandl@lehman.com (David Mandl)]

> From: hughes@ah.com (Eric Hughes)
> 
> >A professor of communications has brought up the fact that it is illegal 
> >to use a pseudo in the white pages of the phone book.  Is this the case?
> 
> I would suggest first, to ask this professor to make a legal citation,
> and if one is not forthcoming, to ask for a retraction of the claim.
> 
> Eric

It's definitely false, at least here in NYC.  A well-known alternative
to having an unlisted phone number (a privilege that the phone company
charges extra for, the crooks) is to have your phone listed under a
different name.  So, if I'm listed in the phone book as "Nick Drake,"
I'm still listed, and so I don't get charged for being unlisted.  However,
anyone looking for D. Mandl in the phone book won't find me, so I'm
_effectively_ unlisted.  Strange but true.

   --Dave.