DIRECTORY RESISTANCE

Des Moines, Iowa, is missing. So are Deming, N.M., the Albuquerque police department, the New York Stock Exchange, the Dallas Cowboys and countless ordinary folk. An alien plot? Close. The once simple act of obtaining long-distance information has become the latest casualty of deregulation. These days a call for out-of-state information not only gets you way out of state--not the one you think you're dialing--but often doesn't get you any information either. The misinformation is the result of a spitting contest between AT&T and the local phone companies, as they begin to compete head to head.

Call New York information from...