PacBell Ordered to Pay Long-Distance Carriers

Pacific Bell was ordered to pay long-distance carriers AT&T; Corp., MCI Communications Corp. and Sprint Corp. a combined $1.52 million in damages for misusing customer long-distance phone data in a marketing program, according to AT&T.; U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer awarded the damages in a ruling made public this week in San Francisco. The dispute arose in 1996, when PacBell introduced an awards program that gave customers points redeemable for prizes based on their total phone use, including long-distance charges. The three long-distance companies filed suit in April 1996, alleging that PacBell’s marketing program was improperly using data that pass through the phone company for billing purposes only. A judge issued a temporary injunction barring PacBell’s use of long-distance data in the awards program shortly after the lawsuit was filed, and a permanent injunction was issued in April of this year. San Francisco-based PacBell, which changed the plan after the suit was filed, said it will review the decision before deciding what action to take, if any.