This occured to me while listening to an International Star Registry radio spot

Chris L Peterson wrote:
They lost a decision in New York a few years ago brought against them
for deceptive advertising practices.

From a 1998 SPA News Circular:


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++
Star Registry hit
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New York's consumer affairs officer has acted against a leading star-
naming company, the International Star Registry, accusing them of
engaging in a deceptive trade practice.

Commisioner Jules Polonetsky said that paying to name stars after loved
ones was simply throwing money into a black hole. The Commissioner said
that companies that offer to "officially" name stars fail to tell
consumers that they don't have the authority to do it. The International
Astronomical Union is the only recognised star-naming organisation, and
it does not sell names.

The ISR faces maximum fines of $3,500 or more. Commissioner Polonetsky
said: "In reality, the star names are nothing more than a listing in the
company's own book."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++


Best,
Stephen

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In article , Chris L Peterson
wrote:

On Thu, 02 Sep 2004 19:03:22 -0600, (sheep
defender) wrote:

How did you check to see if the star hadn't already been "sold" by some
company?

I didn't. In one case a couple already had a star in mind, in the other case I
suggested one. The certificates just confirmed the stars as having a special
meaning to the people involved.

When you dedicate certificates someone must pay for the materials.


You can only "sell" a star to one person (even though neither ISR nor anyone
else can warrant this). You can dedicate a star to any number of people. Which
do you think is more honest?


More honest? They're selling a star package. That's not dishonest.

The legalities of their sales pitch will be determined by the courts, but
I doubt that they will be stopped from selling their certified documents.


Selling for a profit inherently involves a some small amount of deception
or dishonesty (playing with the truth). In other words, if they were just
breaking even or losing money they wouldn't stay in business, but there's
a large market..

Furthermore, I believe there are many people who would pay a lot more for
the commemorating of a star with a deserving person.

Defender



_______________________________________________ __

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

In article ,
wrote:

sheep defender wrote:
[...]
How did you check to see if the star hadn't already been "sold" by some
company?

I hope Chris did exactly as much checking as ISR and similar outfits
(ISR isn't the only one) do to check that the star hasn't already been
sold by one or more of the opposition, i.e. none whatsoever.

Why would you hope that?


[...]
I'm not seeking support, just a balanced view.

Please give us your "balanced view" of how it is right to sell an
imaging artefact as a star.

It's not the object, it's the direction in the universe (coordinates).
Think about the lifelong inspirational value.


Then you can give me a "balanced view" of how I should have responded
when, at a pubic star party, a couple presented me with a naming-scam
certificate and asked me to show them the 12th mag dot they had named
for their dead child.

Every child's death is a tragedy. I lost a little daughter. You should
have responded with information about the range of star types their
child's star might be, and where to find out more.


And for an encore you can give us your "balanced view" of why this:
http://members.aol.com/nlpjp/buy.htm
is unbalanced and why it is right for a star-naming scam to hound the
Perkins Observatory for including similar information on its web site
(see S&T Aug 2000, p28)

Hounding is rarely ever morally right, but apparently both sides see their
actions as equivalent.

Defender


Best,
Stephen

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On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 17:14:26 -0600, (sheep
defender) wrote:

The legalities of their sales pitch will be determined by the courts, but
I doubt that they will be stopped from selling their certified documents...

I never suggested that selling a certificate in some way dedicating a star to a
person is illegal, or even immoral.

What I said is that the business practices of ISR are sleazy and dishonest.
Their literature is deceptive: the average reader will believe they are buying
something different than they actually are. Furthermore, they use SLAP type
tactics to prevent people from speaking out against them (and I'm not talking
slander). More sleaze.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

sheep defender wrote:
[...]
I hope Chris did exactly as much checking as ISR and similar outfits
(ISR isn't the only one) do to check that the star hasn't already been
sold by one or more of the opposition, i.e. none whatsoever.

Why would you hope that?

Because I would not like any decent human being to waste his time
verifying that a star-selling outfit had sold something that they didn't
own in the first place and to which they had no rights whatsoever.

[...]
Please give us your "balanced view" of how it is right to sell an
imaging artefact as a star.

It's not the object, it's the direction in the universe (coordinates).
Think about the lifelong inspirational value.

Nice dodge, but it doesn't address the question.

[...]
Then you can give me a "balanced view" of how I should have responded
when, at a pubic star party, a couple presented me with a naming-scam
certificate and asked me to show them the 12th mag dot they had named
for their dead child.

Every child's death is a tragedy. I lost a little daughter. You should
have responded with information about the range of star types their
child's star might be, and where to find out more.

Well I didn't. I lied to them. There was no way that I was going to show
them a star that they had no chance of finding or seeing for themselves
without considerable further expenditure. I found a faint naked-eye
star in the same region of sky and told them that was it. What I did was
wrong, but on the spur of the moment I deemed it less wrong than it
would have been to pile disappointment on top of bereavement.

And for an encore you can give us your "balanced view" of why this:
http://members.aol.com/nlpjp/buy.htm
is unbalanced and why it is right for a star-naming scam to hound the
Perkins Observatory for including similar information on its web site
(see S&T Aug 2000, p28)

Hounding is rarely ever morally right, but apparently both sides see their
actions as equivalent.

You did not address the question of why the information is unbalanced.

Best,
Stephen

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+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

In article ,
says...
You can only "sell" a star to one person (even though neither ISR nor anyone
else can warrant this).


Umm Why is that? I don't think that ISR or any other star naming
scammers claim tht you will be the only one with that particular "star".
IMO They would be better served to sell bright stars that people can
actually see, and then give some valid info about the star. That way at
least the buyer would know what they are getting.

I named/dedicated Vega to my wife for her support of my nocturnal hobby.
I printed her a certificate, gave her a star chart, and some info/trivia
about Vega. Now when ever we go out I can point out Vega to her and tell
her that is her star.