Supreme Court: AT&T can't keep bad behavior a secret

The Supreme Court decided (PDF) today that AT&T can't keep embarrassing corporate information that it submits to the government out of public view; “personal privacy” rights do not apply to corporations. “We trust that AT&T will not take it personally” concluded the ruling.

The debate started back in 2004, when AT&T realized that it may have been collecting too much government cash as part of the E-rate program that provides broadband access to schools around the country. The FCC launched an investigation, and AT&T turned over reams of documents, eventually settling the matter by paying the government $500,000 and pledging to fix its oversight problems.