AT&T will face California ISPs at the Supreme Court level in the case Pacific Bell Telephone Co. d/b/a AT&T California v. LinkLine Communications Inc., 07-512.

Unfortunately for the ISPs, the AP article notes that cases like this one have been in the courts for the past 60 years, and telco behavior has not changed for the better.

Meanwhile, the cable companies are suing Verizon for another common anti-competitive practice: offering discounts to customers who have already left, a practice made possible by the phone monopoly's control. Verizon gets to choose when and how to disconnect its own customers.

ISP-Planet's current quote is from USA TODAY:

"The dispute stems from the fact that a cable company that wrests a phone customer from Verizon must contact the carrier to transfer the customer's phone number. During the several days when the transfers take place, Verizon has illegally used information about the switch to persuade customers to stay by offering discounts and other perks, the cable companies say."

Of course, Verizon lobbyists will argue that up is down.

Want a complete rundown on what telcos do to ISPs? Here's 14 pages.