AT&T, Verizon: In 2006, news broke that these two massive telecommunications companies had been allegedly turning over the private calling records of millions of Americans to the National Security Agency. The companies were caught in a firestorm of bad publicity and hit by a barrage of costly class action lawsuits. The companies faced potentially "crippling" damages in the hundreds of billions of dollars and have spent massive amounts on attorney and lobbyist fees to try to sidestep liability.

AT&T: Censoring the political speech of the popular rock band Pearl Jam landed AT&T in hot water in 2007. The company censored the first few seconds of its Web cast of the group, replacing the lyrics, "George Bush, find yourself another home," with silence. Although the company quickly reposted an uncensored version, the damage to its reputation could not be reversed as easily.