"Marketing Group takes the dead off lists"

The nation's largest direct marketing group set up a registry Thursday to remove dead people from its telemarketing, e-mail and direct mail lists - for $1.

The Direct Marketing Association, which has more than 5,200 members in the United States and 44 other countries, said its Deceased Do-Not-Contact list was designed to help families dealing with the loss of a loved one.

"The DMA recognizes how emotionally and logistically difficult the process of handling someone's final affairs can be," Pat Kachura, the group's senior vice president for ethics and consumer affairs, said in a statement.

The organization said the $1 fee was for credit card verification, and was designed to prevent fraud.

"We're concerned people will abuse the list, putting the names of friends on it, that kind of thing," Kachura said in a telephone interview. "So we're very concerned that those who are on the list are those who should be on the list."

"Your name here' goes global"

Customized T-shirts, posters and postage stamps have emerged as the Internet's latest darlings among venture capitalists.

To get started, users create their own designs for products including T- shirts, posters and greeting cards. The Web sites then handle the printing and shipping.

Many people simply use the Web sites to make gifts for family members and friends. Others earn royalties by selling their products or designs to shoppers on the sites.