The D.C. Circuit today upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s authority to discipline a telephone service provider for wooing customers who decided to switch to a rival. Verizon received customer change requests from alternative service providers (i.e., cable companies) and used the knowledge of impending customer losses to sweet talk the customers into staying. The FCC concluded that Verizon’s conduct violated 47 U.S.C. 222(b), which prohibits a telecommunications carrier “that receives or obtains proprietary information from another carrier” from using the info “for its own marketing efforts.” The D.C. Circuit sustained the FCC’s order and denied Verizon’s petition for review. Verizon California, Inc. v. Federal Comm. Comm’n, No. 08-1234 (Feb. 10, 2009).
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