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                           "MY LIFE IS NOT FOR SALE"
                                       
    by Ram Avrahami
    
   
   
   
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
     On June 11, 1996, a Virginia court is scheduled to rule on a lawsuit
     I filed against U.S. News & World Report for misappropriating my
     name. The magazine "rented" my name to the Smithsonian Institution,
     which used the information to mail me a membership solicitation. As
     the case became more public, many reporters asked me why would a
     rational person go through the exhaustive and expensive process of a
     law suit because of a letter, when I could simply throw it away? I
     would like to explain clearly why such an unwanted solicitation
     epitomizes a system of waste, intrusion and violation of property
     rights, a realization that forced me to resort to legal action.
     
     Like most people, I receive a lot of "junk mail" and "junk calls."
     These unrequested mail and telephone solicitations have little value
     to me. Yet, despite my requests, they keep coming in almost every
     day, taking my time and attention. As a businessman, I understand
     why and how direct marketing is used. But as a consumer, I feel
     annoyed and defenseless in my own home. This striking difference
     between what companies see as a legitimate and profitable business
     and what consumers see as annoying "junk," is rooted in the system
     by which businesses receive the information about their targeted
     consumers.
     
     This system usually works like this: Commercial and non-commercial
     organizations, that interact with us in our regular life, without
     our knowledge and permission, sell information about us to other
     companies. This information is processed, categorized and resold,
     again without our knowledge or permission. Finally, companies and
     organizations buy this personal information and use it to send us
     "targeted" solicitations, as inefficiently as we know it. Examining
     this process carefully reveals three serious problems.
     
     The first is the expropriating and making public of personal
     information without permission. Besides being ethically
     questionable, a company may release information, without
     accountability, that harms individuals. Some laws regulate specific
     types of information, such as credit, medical records or even video
     rentals. However, no laws about personal data in general exist, and
     companies take the liberty to sell any unprotected piece of
     information that is deemed profitable to them.
     
     These profits are the second problem. Businesses understandably try
     to maximize profits from their activities. It is not surprising that
     as technology enabled them to compile and transfer huge lists of
     names easily, then even small values that are associated with each
     name were accumulated to handsome profits. But these profits were
     claimed prematurely -- the names did not belong to the companies in
     the first place.
     
     The value in an individual's name belongs to the individual,
     celebrity and homeless alike. Virginia Code 8.01-40 clearly states:
     "Any person whose name, portrait, or picture is used without having
     first obtained the written consent of such person... for the
     purposes of trade, such person may maintain a suit... to prevent and
     restrain the use thereof." Yet companies have so far neglected to
     ask us for such permission.
     
     The third problem is the annoyance and waste that we endure from the
     unrequested solicitations. Call it the loss of time, call it
     invasion of privacy, call it needless waste of paper and other
     resources. The fact that even in the sanctuary of our homes we can
     not escape commercial intrusion, albeit our will and requests, is
     inherently troubling. Is this the price of modern society or is this
     a symptom of disrespect for our wishes?
     
     In our society, companies are free to seek profits, individuals are
     free to pursue happiness, and laws have been written to regulate
     conflicts of interests. Out of the three problems above, the
     protection of property rights is the easiest to verify, as well as
     being a long standing cornerstone for a free society. As members of
     the society, we bear the responsibility to check periodically how
     our rights and duties remain fair to us.
     
     Direct marketing companies claim that the more they know about us,
     the better they can target the messages to our taste. But after
     years of trying, we still trash over 95% of their solicitations.
     Worse, the fear that information about us will be used for further
     solicitation or other purposes only added anxiety to our life. As
     commercial databases record more of our life in a flawed manner, the
     risk of the misuse of that information only increases. Some may have
     already happened.... This risk is too big to sustain.
     
     It is therefore my duty to stand by my legal rights today and draw
     the line. Maybe companies can solicit me in my home. Maybe not
     everything in my life can be private -- but my name is my property,
     and, without my permission, MY LIFE IS NOT FOR SALE!
     
     
     
       _______________________________________________________________
     
     Copyright © 1996 Ram Avrahami
     
     This essay, "My Life Is Not For Sale," is pre-approved for
     non-commercial electronic transmission without charge. It was first
     published, with minor modifications, in the Los Angeles Times, on
     February 5, 1996.
     
     Ram Avrahami can be reached at avrahami@ragis.com;
     or at P.O.B. 5339, Arlington, VA 22205, USA.
     
  
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