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.

Verizon: Verizon made a costly mistake in 2007 when it told NARAL Pro-Choice America that the nonprofit could not use the telecommunication company’s network to send text messages to people who had requested information updates. The company reversed its decision after receiving a barrage of complaints from activists, members of the media, and legislators. The FCC opened an investigation into the incident, causing senior executives to apologize repeatedly in both written comments and in-person testimony before the agency.

Verizon: In late 2007, Verizon received widespread praise when it made a pro-free speech pledge not to monitor its network backbone for peer-to-peer file sharing. The company pledged that it would not "accept the role of network police agency."

Verizon: In 2003, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) obtained a subpoena under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) ordering Verizon to reveal the identity of a subscriber who had allegedly used peer-to-peer software to share music online. Verizon refused to comply with the subpoena, arguing that it raised serious privacy concerns and was not in fact authorized by the DMCA. Verizon succeeded in defeating the subpoena on appeal, garnering praise for its commitment to user privacy.