The Census Bureau tested a voluntary version of the survey before officially rolling out the ACS in 2005, and found a 20.7-percentage-point reduction in mailback response rate.

WSJ: Census Gets Questions on Its Mandatory Queries

In 1985 I became VP of Sales for a start-up called Applied Control Systems (ACS) that made PC based inventory and accounting software for restaurants.

FORBES: Connect

Founded as a financial computer-services provider in 1988, ACS for the first few years focused on processing bank transactions, but the collapse of the Texas banking industry eliminated many of its customers.

FORBES: The human factor

Mr. Richter, the ACS commissioner, said the campaign is part of a push by the city to find foster-care parents with more education and resources as well.

WSJ: New York City Seeking to Attract Gay, Lesbian Foster Parents

Barrister Guy Tritton also questioned the nature of the letters sent by ACS: Law, asking why it described MediaCAT as a "copyright protection society" - a title that he said was "misleading".

BBC: Law firm ACS: Law stops 'chasing illegal file-sharers'