Dex Media West, Inc. v. City of Seattle

The “yellow pages” telephone directory was once a ubiquitous part of American life, found in virtually every household and office. We were regularly encouraged to let our fingers do the walking. But times have changed, and today phone books, like land-line telephones themselves, are not so universally accepted.

The City of Seattle imposes substantial conditions and costs on the distribution of yellow pages phone directories. Ordinance 123427, adopted in 2010, requires publishers of yellow pages directories to obtain permits and pay a fee for each directory distributed in the city. It also establishes an opt-out registry, through which residents can decline to receive directories. The publishers are required by the Ordinance to advertise the availability of the opt-out registry on the front covers of their directories. The fees paid by the publishers are intended to cover the cost of operating and promoting the opt out registry.

Plaintiffs Dex Media West, Inc., SuperMedia LLC, and the Yellow Pages Integrated Media Association (the “Yellow Pages Companies”) challenged the validity of the Ordinance. The challenge is based primarily on the First Amendment of the United…