Opinion ID: 3046525
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: industry context

Text: When local exchange carriers (LECs), such as Comcast, issue a telephone number and provide services to a customer, they collect information about that customer, such as her name, phone number, and address.1 This information is known as a “directory listing.”2 1 Implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996: Telecommunications Carriers’ Use of Customer Proprietary Network Information and Other Customer Information, 14 FCC Rcd. 15550, 15553–54 ¶¶ 1, 3 (1999) (Third Report and Order) [hereinafter 1999 Order]. 2 Section 222(e) uses the term “subscriber list information,” while § 251(b)(3) uses “directory listing.” Though those two terms are interchangeable for our purposes, we use “directory listing” throughout this opinion. See Implementation of the Local Competition Provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 11 FCC Rcd. 19392, 19458–59 ¶ 134 (1996) (Second Report and Order) (“As a minimum standard, we find that the term ‘directory listing’ as used in section 251(b)(3) is synonymous with the definition of ‘subscriber list information’ in section [222(h)(3)].”). 2 Case: 11-12221 Date Filed: 09/26/2012 Page: 3 of 19 The directory listings of a LEC’s customers amount to a significant amount of raw data. This customer data has a number of uses, so it is valuable. But before the data can be used, it must first be aggregated and processed—that is, converted into a database. See LSSi Data Corp. v. Time Warner Cable, Inc., No. 11 Civ. 7780, 2012 WL 1893650, at  (S.D.N.Y. May 23, 2012) (noting that processing is required to make raw customer data usable for the purpose of providing directory assistance). LSSi offers this type of data aggregation service, in addition to other services. When the databases of several LECs are combined, the result is a fairly comprehensive collection of the contact information for residents of a particular community, which can be used in providing directory-related services. See 1999 Order, 14 FCC Rcd. at 15554 ¶ 2. For example, the combined databases can be published in paper and electronic directories, such as phonebooks, by directory publishers. Id. And it can also be used to provide directory assistance services, like 411, which allow customers to retrieve the telephone numbers of other customers quickly.3 3 See Implementation of the Local Competition Provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 15 FCC Rcd. 3696, 3892 ¶ 443 (1999) (Third Report and Order) (defining “directory assistance” as “a service that allows subscribers to retrieve telephone numbers of other subscribers” (quotation marks omitted)). 3 Case: 11-12221 Date Filed: 09/26/2012 Page: 4 of 19