DOJ Sues Maine PUC and Verizon
MCLU Denounces Federal Abuse of Power

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 21, 2006

Privacy advocates and consumers spent the afternoon waiting for Verizon to respond to the Maine Public Utilities Commission’s request that it swear under oath to the truthfulness of its press releases.  The response, filed after the PUC’s 5:00 pm deadline, revealed surprising news.  In an unexpected move today, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in federal court against officials of the Maine Public Utilities Commission and Verizon.  The lawsuit seeks declaratory judgment to prevent Verizon from answering questions posed by the PUC earlier this month.  The lawsuit also seeks to prevent any further investigation of Verizon’s collaboration with the National Security Agency Surveillance program.

“This is a terrible abuse of power,” said MCLU Executive Director Shenna Bellows, “The federal government is doing its utmost to cover up what appears to have been an illegal breach of Mainers’ privacy rights.”

The lawsuit, similar to ones filed in New Jersey and Missouri earlier this summer, stems from a complaint filed in May by 22 Verizon customers, and later signed on to by almost 400 Mainers, asking the Maine PUC to investigate whether Verizon disclosed call records of its Maine customers without the customers’ knowledge or legal authorization.  The PUC did not make a decision to open an investigation but did ask that an officer of Verizon attest to the veracity of company press statements.  Today Verizon filed a letter with the PUC citing the lawsuit in its refusal to respond to the PUC’s request.