Does the U.S. government own my mailbox?

[Queuing]

Hello,

In the answer to this question you say this:

Another example of the federal interest in your mailbox is the limitation placed on its use. DMM 508 section 3.1.3 says a mailbox “may be used only for matter bearing postage.” It’s a federal crime to deposit mailable matter without postage into a letterbox, and many items are officially nonmailable. So, Stan, the answer to your question is yes – you can’t put anything in a mailbox that doesn’t have postage on it. For better or worse, neither can all those guys coming around with advertising flyers, which is why you get stuff rubber-banded to your doorknob or scattered on the lawn.

Do you know, or does anybody know, if this is true in Canada as well? I hate getting all that crap in my mailbox, and would love to get it to stop. Thanks.

[Gfactor]

This is the staff report in question: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmailbox.htm

I don’t know the answer to your question. Let me see what I can find out.

[Nametag]

According to this USPS report (PDF!):

@US Postal Service

We testified in January 1996 on eight foreign countries that operate
without laws comparable to the mailbox restriction. These countries
were Australia, Canada, France, Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand,
Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Private delivery companies in these
countries can deliver advertising and other items not covered by their
letter mail monopolies by depositing material into mailboxes without
locks, into locked mailboxes with slots for receiving mail, or into mail
slots in doors or walls.

So, no.

[Gfactor]

@Nametag

According to this USPS report (PDF!): So, no.

Good find. Thanks.

[Arnold_Winkelried]

[del]Yes, good find, Nametag, but where in your link does it say that these are the only eight countries that allow private entities to use the mailbox that the post office puts letters in?[/del]

never mind

[Queuing]

Thanks, and dammit!

Sorry about leaving out the link, I had it ready and everything to do so!

[matt_mcl]

Having conducted mass mailings for an election campaign, I discovered that Canada Post maintains a list of addressees who do not wish to receive admail. Their page on admail says:

Canada Post allows you to target your customers more effectively by respecting the wishes of consumers who indicate, through a self-produced note on their mailbox or mail receptacle, that they do not wish to receive unaddressed materials. The only exemptions are materials from Elections Canada and provincial Chief Electoral Officers, House of Commons mailings, municipal electoral mailings and community newspapers.

Contact them for more information.

[Giles]

In Australia, it is very common for letterboxes to have signs on them saying something like, “No junk mail”, “No advertising material” or “Australia Post mail only”.

[bluezooky]

I certainly have a sign saying “no junk mail” unfortunately as far as I can tell it hasn’t stopped a single flyer reaching my mailbox, you can even pay the post office to deliver junk mail directly to each of their PO boxes.