Last week privacy activist Chris Soghoian wrote a blog entry detailing how carriers share or sell user data to the government. While Sprint's system of sharing GPS data saw the brunt of the publicity, Soghoian's article also discussed how he filed a FOIA request for info on the sharing practices of companies like Verizon and Yahoo. Yahoo and Verizon denied the request for access to how much they charge the government for access to user data, claiming the details of such programs would "shock and confuse" customers.

Interestingly, Techdirt notes that this week those pricing lists have been leaked anyway, and a slew of documents relating to the issue have now been posted to the whistleblower website Cryptome. The website has posted both Verizon (pdf) and Yahoo's (pdf) user data sharing and pricing guides for law enforcement. Sprint's pricing breakdown is here: story continues..

While consumers love that Verizon invested $23 billion on fiber to the home instead of nursing copper for the next decade, that investment has come at a cost for the company's DSL and landline customers. Rural Verizon DSL customers find themselves unwanted and sold off, while others say Verizon neglects copper infrastructure upkeep and repairs in order to spend time on more profitable customers.

Back in September we noted how it seems like only a matter of time before Verizon engaged in metered broadband billing. After Time Warner Cable's PR implosion, most ISPs are in a holding pattern on the idea until they can sell consumers on it, something they haven't done a good job of so far.

Verizon suffered from quite a bloody third quarter when it came to DSL numbers, the company losing 135,000 DSL customers -- and only a portion of those having upgraded to the company's FiOS service. To help counter these DSL losses Verizon keeps tinkering with their DSL promotions, and yesterday rolled out a new one. According to a Verizon press release, new Verizon 1 Mbps, 3 Mbps or 7 Mbps DSL customers can get service free for six months if they're willing to sign a one year contract with the company. FiOS customers should note the company has also slightly tweaked their FiOS promotions depending on where you live.

Last week we noted how Verizon had started working with the RIAA to send letters to Verizon users who traded copyrighted files, though the company still doesn't plan to divulge user identities to the entertainment industry. Verizon also doesn't appear willing to engage in the industry's dream scenario of booting repeat offenders off of their network. In a follow up piece, CNET notes that Verizon has also struck a new letter notification agreement with the major film studios and the MPAA. Contrary to what CNET seems to believe, Verizon has sent DMCA infringement notifications to their users on behalf of Fox and other companies in the past, so it's not clear just how expanded this new effort will be (Verizon isn't commenting).

Verizon already forwards copyright notices to customers who are tagged by the entertainment industry's intelligence-gathering organizations, but they don't disclose the customer who was actually using the IP address at the time the infringement occurred. In a move that signals a ramp-up in their cooperation with the entertainment industry, CNET cites inside sources at Verizon who say the company is about to launch a new letter notification campaign in cooperation with the RIAA.

You might remember how during the summer, Teresa Dixon Murray at the Cleveland Plain Dealer did a great job highlighting a phantom $1.99 fee Verizon was hitting consumers with -- even if they didn't use any data. The phantom charges were being incurred when phones were off, phone batteries were dead, Internet access was blocked, or the phones didn't have the necessary software to go online.

Consumer Group Free Press takes a few shots at Verizon's inconsistent positions on rural broadband, noting that while the baby bell continually claims to support getting broadband into the nation's rural nooks and crannies, their actions of late say the complete opposite. Forget FiOS -- the new Verizon is uninterested in delivering even DSL or phone service to most rural markets, which is why they're continually selling off these markets in tricky tax loophole leaping deals that usually wind up badly for the consumer and the sold markets:Verizon's justification of course is that rural America is costly to wire.

Back in May, Verizon announced they hoped to sell another huge chunk of their DSL and landline network to Frontier. The $8.5 billion deal would infuse Frontier (which currently has 2.3 million customers) with 4.8 million new residential and small-business phone lines across 14 states, 1 million broadband connections, and 11,000 former Verizon employees. Like previous deals with Hawaii Telcom and Fairpoint, the deal would involve the use of a Reverse Morris Trust -- a tricky financial move that allows Verizon to avoid the tax penalties of a traditional sale, while offloading a ton of debt onto would-be suitors. Despite consumer worries this new sale could end the same way these last two did (bankruptcy), regulators in South Carolina, California and Nevada have all unanimously voted yes for the deal.

As we explored last week in detail, Verizon appears to be pausing in their FiOS deployment in order to recoup some of the money in markets they've already deployed the service. One of the cities impacted by that pause is Boston, which is wondering where FiOS is given Verizon's struck citywide franchise deals with Philadelphia, New York, and Washington DC.

Earlier this week we noted how Verizon's quarterly subscriber additions for their fiber to the home FiOS service were lower than anticipated. The company added 191,000 new FiOS subs on the quarter, down from the 300,000 added in the second quarter.

In California, Verizon has been slowing their deployment of FiOS to new neighborhoods in Orange County. While they apparently told the county this was due to a slow economy, they're telling the local press that they're taking a break from new deployments in order to better market the service in existing neighborhoods.

Verizon unveiled their third quarter earnings this morning, and as suspected, wireless service continued to be the company's biggest growth engine. Verizon Wireless added 1.2 million net new customers, bringing their wireless subscriber total to 89 million.

Last summer Verizon hinted that they were gearing up to offer discounts for bundling wireless service with TV, DSL or FiOS (they currently only offer wireless users one bill). Today Verizon announced that those bundles had arrived -- at least for consumers in their Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets.

There's not a broadband provider out there who wouldn't instantly begin billing you by the byte if they thought you (the consumer) would sign off on it. Unfortunately for them, Time Warner Cable's recent PR disaster illustrated that consumers aren't sold on low caps and high overages when broadband delivery costs continue to drop.

Back in April we reported how Cablevision was launching 101Mbps+ connection at a $99 price point (albeit with a whopping $300 activation fee), a first for the industry. Given the product is the marketing equivalent of a drop kick aimed squarely at Verizon's face, it wasn't surprising to see Verizon quickly downplay the offering, calling it little more than a "parlor trick." For now, Verizon believes their top offering of 50 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up is more than enough bandwidth for the average user.

Verizon's gotten to the point where they're modifying their DSL and FiOS bundle promotions on a fairly regular basis, as they continue to battle cable, and try to balance marketing dollars between the DSL and FiOS networks. Starting September 1, FiOS customers get a $150 visa gift card (not to be confused with cash) and free installation if they sign up for qualifying bundles. Meanwhile, in a second promotion the company is offering 3 or 7 Mbps DSL, the DIRECTV PLUS DVR package and Freedom Essentials (unlimited local and long-distance calling) for $75 for three months. The company is also offering new DSL customers three months of free service if they sign a one-year contract.

Saul Hansell over at the New York Times has picked up that paper's telecom beat, and offers an interesting piece from a recent Goldman Sachs investors conference. While AT&T Boss Randall Stephenson and Qwest boss Ed Mueller are keeping their heads buried in the sand telling investors that the landline defections will eventually stop, Verizon boss Ivan Seidenberg has basically admitted the obvious: the landline, as we know it, is dead.

Alongside the Postal Service, Verizon this week was awarded the title of one of the "Most Trusted Companies for Privacy" by the Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe. Verizon is the second most trusted company, according to a survey of 6,486 adults, and an "an expert review panel at the Ponemon Institute" which judged the companies on a "rigorous" list of criteria that included the clarity and readability of privacy statements, policy change notice, access to account information, cookie management, and data sharing practices.

Verizon has already cut 8,000 jobs in the last twelve months, and during the company's second quarter earnings conference call announced they'd be laying off another 8,000 employees during the second half of this year. But that's just the beginning according to Verizon CFO John Killian, who told attendees at an investor conference this week that the company needs to lay off even more workers, and at an "accelerated pace." While some of the layoffs are because of the housing market and Verizon's slowly dying residential phone business, the company is also making a very intentional move away from rural connectivity so they can focus on more immediately profitable urban and suburban FiOS and wireless delivery. While investors welcome the news, the employees themselves are somewhat annoyed that Verizon's canning employees while posting record profits.