192.com case triggers PAF review UK
Royal Mail is reviewing the licensing agreements for its Postal Address File (PAF). Industry insiders warn that it could see the company own all data which has been validated against the file.
The proposals follow Royal Mail’s failed court case against 192.com for using correct names and addresses in its directory products after validating its information against PAF.
Royal Mail argued that because 192.com’s name-and-address data had been checked against PAF for accuracy it should receive 150 (pounds sterling) in licence fees for every CD-Rom 192.com produced. The High Court ruled against Royal Mail.
A large majority of databases are PAF-validated, meaning widespread implications for the industry. One of the clauses in the agreement is said to state that companies which have used PAF are required to pay Royal Mail a percentage of the revenue earned through their database.
Alastair Crawford, chief executive of 192.com, says: “We are concerned that Royal Mail, having lost the argument in court, may yet seek to hijack companies’ mailing list databases with the introduction of new terms.
“I urge UK businesses to be extremely vigilant about losing control of their valuable customer databases by having them validated against PAF.”
A Royal Mail spokesman confirms the PAF licensing agreements are under review, but claims there are no plans to change data-ownership rules.
