Intelius said it is partially shutting down its cellphone directory as it faces federal and state legislation and a tongue lashing from Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ). The company said “in response to consumer feedback” people will no longer be able to search for people’s cellphone numbers by name. However, its reverse directory search—which allows people to search by cell-phone number to find the caller’s identity—will remain.

Besides doing right by consumers, Intelius is also eager to please right now to ensure its pending $144 million IPO goes off without a hitch. That might be difficult if both state and federal legislation is being proposed that would ban third-party cellphone directories that did not have permission from the subscribers to be listed. Verizon Wireless also said last week it was considering litigation against Intelius. “Stop it. This is a violation of Americans’ privacy. People expect their cell phone numbers to remain private,” said Steve Zipperstein, VP and general counsel of Verizon Wireless, in a release.