YSK that in the US, the name Yellow Pages, and the familiar "walking fingers" logo, are in the public domain and can be legally used by anyone. This has been exploited to perpetrate a common scam against small business owners.
If you own a small business, you may receive in the mail appears to be a form asking you to "verify" your company's information for inclusion in the telephone directory. It has the "walking fingers' logo and appears to be from the Yellow Pages. Even comes with a postage-paid envelope so you don't even need to pay for a stamp. Seems legit, right?
THROW IT IN THE TRASH.
As is so often the case, the truth is in the fine print. The company that sends these forms typically has no relationship with the telephone company, so they have nothing to do with your listing in the local yellow pages. Usually the company has a name like "Yellow Pages United".
By returning the form, you are agreeing to pay roughly $400-- every six months-- to be included in an online directory.
The reason they can get away with this is that for some reason, AT&T never registered the name Yellow Pages, or the walking fingers logo, as trademarks in the U.S. Thus, they are in the public domain and can be freely used by anyone.
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