[Paleopsych] NYT: List of Schiavo Donors Will Be Sold by Direct-Marketing Firm

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List of Schiavo Donors Will Be Sold by Direct-Marketing Firm
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/politics/29donate.html

    By [44]DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and [45]JOHN SCHWARTZ
    Published: March 29, 2005

    WASHINGTON, March 28 - The parents of Terri Schiavo have authorized a
    conservative direct-mailing firm to sell a list of their financial
    supporters, making it likely that thousands of strangers moved by her
    plight will receive a steady stream of solicitations from
    anti-abortion and conservative groups.

    "These compassionate pro-lifers donated toward Bob Schindler's legal
    battle to keep Terri's estranged husband from removing the feeding
    tube from Terri," says a description of the list on the Web site of
    the firm, Response Unlimited, which is asking $150 a month for 6,000
    names and $500 a month for 4,000 e-mail addresses of people who
    responded last month to an e-mail plea from Ms. Schiavo's father.
    "These individuals are passionate about the way they value human life,
    adamantly oppose euthanasia and are pro-life in every sense of the
    word!"

    Privacy experts said the sale of the list was legal and even
    predictable, if ghoulish.

    "I think it's amusing," said Robert Gellman, a privacy and information
    policy consultant. "I think it's absolutely classic America.
    Everything is for sale in America, every type of personal
    information."

    Executives of Response Unlimited declined to comment. Gary McCullough,
    director of the Christian Communication Network and a spokesman for
    Ms. Schiavo's parents, confirmed that Mr. Schindler had agreed to let
    Response Unlimited rent out the list as part of a deal for the firm to
    send an e-mail solicitation raising money on the family's behalf.

    The Schindlers have waged a lengthy legal battle against their
    son-in-law Michael Schiavo to prevent the removal of the feeding tube
    from their daughter, who doctors say is in a persistent vegetative
    state.

    Mr. McCullough said he was present when Mr. Schindler agreed to the
    arrangement in a conversation with Phil Sheldon, the co-founder of a
    conservative online marketing organization, [47]RightMarch.com, who
    acted as a broker for Response Unlimited.

    "So the Schindlers do know the details," Mr. McCullough said on
    Monday. How much attention they paid to the matter is hard to assess,
    he added. "The Schindlers right now know that their daughter is
    starving to death, and if I ask about anything else, they say, 'I
    don't want to hear about it.' "

    Direct mail and mass e-mailings are ubiquitous fund-raising tools of
    interest groups on the left as well as the right, and others in the
    direct-mail business defended the sale of lists like the roster of
    donors to the Schindlers as a useful way for potential donors to learn
    of causes that might appeal to them.

    Pamela Hennessy, an unpaid spokeswoman for the Schindlers, said she
    was initially appalled when she learned of the list's existence.

    "It is possibly the most distasteful thing I have ever seen," Ms.
    Hennessy said. "Everybody is making a buck off of her."

    Ms. Hennessy, who operates the Schindlers' Web site,
    [48]www.terrisfight.org, said the family had not released any of the
    names or e-mail addresses gathered there. "Obviously these people are
    enterprising, and they are taking advantage of this very desperate
    father," she said.

    On Sunday, as the Schindlers gave up on their legal battle and their
    daughter passed her 10th day without food, others continued to rally
    supporters and solicit money in an effort to restore the feeding tube.

    "This time, we have a real chance to break through the 'roadblocks'
    that the enemies of life have been putting up in front of us," said a
    mass e-mailing from RightMarch.com, asking supporters to urge Gov. Jeb
    Bush to intervene somehow.

    The message added: "We're asking you to give a donation to help with
    our activism efforts to save Terri's life. Battles cost money;
    resources cost money; media costs money; we could go on, but you get
    the picture."

    Mr. Sheldon - whose father, the Rev. Lou Sheldon, founder of the
    Traditional Values Coalition, has also sent appeals urging support for
    Ms. Schiavo - apparently played a dual role as a partner in
    RightMarch.com, which is working with the anti-abortion activist
    Randall Terry, and as a broker for Response Unlimited. Mr. Sheldon did
    not respond to phone calls yesterday.

    "I think it sounds a little unusual right now because of the situation
    where she is in the process of dying," said Richard Viguerie, another
    major conservative direct-mail operator. "If you came across this
    information six months or a year from now, I don't think you would
    give it too much thought."

References

   44. http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=DAVID%20D.%20KIRKPATRICK&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=DAVID%20D.%20KIRKPATRICK&inline=nyt-per
   45. http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=JOHN%20SCHWARTZ&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=JOHN%20SCHWARTZ&inline=nyt-per
   47. http://RightMarch.com/
   48. http://www.terrisfight.org/



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