A significant number of Fairpoint customers are owed refunds for some fairly horrific stretches of service last year, as the company struggled to integrate Verizon's New England DSL and landline networks (and more importantly, $2.3 billion in Verizon debt from the deal). At points, Fairpoint couldn't even answer the phone or provide working 911 service -- much less provide a good voice or data connection. While Fairpoint had funds for a marketing makeover and to lobby against rural broadband improvement projects in Maine, the company has fought providing consumer refunds. Today Fairpoint was forced to settle with Maine after they took their opposition to court. The Judge included a touch of snark in his ruling: story continues..

Many ISPs seem to think you absolutely must offer some kind of Internet video portal, or they'll lose valuable advertising revenue that could be going to other, better options. The problem is, many ISP Internet video portals simply aren't very compelling, so ISPs are losing that ad money anyway, but now they're out development costs (however modest) for the project.

Citing speculation from "a growing number of Wall Street analysts," The Denver Post insists that Qwest Communications is for sale, and argues that either Winstream Communications or CenturyLink are possible buyers. Including phone and broadband lines, core fiber and data centers, the Post speculates that Qwest is worth somewhere around $20 billion (Qwest bought much of their current infrastructure from U S West in 2000 for $45 billion). It's not clear where the renewed speculation is coming from, given Qwest has technically been on sale for years now, and Qwest executives have acknowledged as much for just as long. The problem has been that nobody's been interested in Qwest's aging, significantly rural copper networks (or their long haul network) at the price Qwest wants people to pay.

For some time now, Uncle Sam has been pushing for a law that would require ISPs retain all of their user logs for several years, with only a few ISPs thinking that's a particularly good idea given the added regulation and cost. While the push for log retention seemed to stumble since it began in earnest in 2006, CNET notes that the effort is seeing renewed focus in Washington.

You might recall that before snoopvertising agency NebuAD flamed out spectacularly, a number of ISPs tested the user-tracking technology on their customers -- in many cases without telling anybody about it. When asked by the press about the tests, many of these ISPs simply wouldn't comment.

Fierce Wireless asks a number of vendors who make a living off of billing systems their thoughts on metered billing in the wireless space, and unsurprisingly is told by each one that a shift to metered billing is "inevitable" in wireless. The article is full of the kind of talking points we're used to from an industry that desperately wants to foist higher per megabyte fees on consumers.

At launch, Google took heat for a number of things related to their "Nexus One" smartphone, including the fact that customers who canceled service early faced $550 in fees (a $200 ETF from T-Moble, and a $350 Google "Equipment Recovery Fee"), which was more than the phone even cost. Responding to these criticisms, sluggish Nexus One sales, and the FCC's recent inquiry into ETFs, Google says they're lowering the Nexus One "equipment recovery fee" from $350 to $150, and talks about the decision to the Wall Street Journal: story continues..

• Qwest seen as likely takeover target, analysts say [totaltele.com]
• Google cuts fee to break Nexus One contract [usatoday.com]
• Three firms battle for LTE patent pool [fiercewireless.com]
• Google now taking user phone calls about Nexus One [networkworld.com]
• Couple told to pay £45,000 for broadband [theinquirer.net]
• Groups Launch EBIF.TV Site To Support Enhanced TV Development [multichannel.com]
• BlackBerry Curve tops iPhone in Q4 smartphone sales [fiercewireless.com]
• BT UK Tops 1 Million Wi-Fi Wireless Broadband Hotspots [ispreview.co.uk]

• Google analyst: U.S. Internet needs to get faster [cnn.com]
• 72% Worldwide Growth in Mobile Data Bandwidth [cellular-news.com]
• NTIA May Dole Out More Broadband Stimulus Funds [multichannel.com]
• Mass. city becomes testing ground for boosting broadband adoption [networkworld.com]
• BelAir Weaves DOCSIS 3.0 Into Wi-Fi Access Point [multichannel.com]
• Acer: Android sales exceeding expectations [fiercewireless.com]
• FBI calls for two year retention for ISP data [theregister.co.uk]
• Symantec sued over subscription charge> [theinquirer.net]

(Updated with response from Verizon at bottom.) Last summer you might recall that 4Chan users collectively cried out that they'd been blocked by AT&T, and began firing their trademark digital barbs at the carrier's direction. As it turned out, the website had only been temporarily blocked as AT&T worked to resolve a distributed denial of service attack.

Back in the summer of 2008 Italian government officials demanded that broadband ISPs in the country begin blocking users from accessing popular BitTorrent website The Pirate Bay. Many ISPs obliged, but oddly decided instead to direct users to the website of the IFPI (the overseas equivalent of the RIAA). In the end the Pirate Bay managed to defeat the order with an appeal, and the end result was that all the publicity simply drove more user traffic to the website. However, the Italian Supreme Court has now ruled that forcing Italian ISPs to block BitTorrent websites is perfectly legal, so the government appears poised to try again. Of course Italian broadband users will find a way around the blockade, and the game of P2P cat and mouse will continue...

In what appears to be a promotion gone wrong, Cox Communications has accidentally offered free Playstation 3's to every Cox customer in Arizona that signs up for service or upgrades existing service. The deal was supposedly intended only to lure in new Cox customers, but Cox's marketing team accidentally sent the flyers out to all customers. Judging from posts in our forums, Cox did try pretty hard to honor the deal, which requires users sign a 12 month contract (and Cox's ETF is roughly equivalent to the cost of a PS3). Some users who tried to get in on the deal late (and via word of mouth from customers who got flyers) aren't getting PS3's, and have complained to the Consumerist about Cox shutting down the promotion.

Last week Comcast unveiled their plans to rebrand their Internet, VoIP and TV services all under the "Xfinity" monicker. While Comcast was hoping to create a modern brand that could do battle with AT&T U-Verse and Verizon FiOS, the decision to misspell infinity with "extreme" and painfully cliche 90's brand stylings wasn't a particularly inspired or creative choice.

After announcing their bankruptcy plan last October, Fairpoint Communications has filed their bankruptcy plan. The company has issued a statement saying the plan "protects the commitments FairPoint made in 2008 when it assumed operations from Verizon," including expanding broadband penetration into under-served regions of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Fairpoint failed to meet these commitments after purchasing these networks for $2.3 billion in 2007, and ultimately collapsed under $2.7 billion in debt. Once again, the real winner in this whole exchange? Verizon, who got to offload unwanted networks, debt and union workers, and will just wind up winning many New England customers back with wireless LTE 4G service down the road anyway.

The wireless industry has a few bad habits. One, they like to advertise one thing, then go and do another -- including advertising services as "unlimited," when they have very clear monthly usage caps. They also like to bury clauses in user contracts that attempt to ban consumers from participating in class action lawsuits to settle complaints -- instead forcing them into binding arbitration, a faux-legal process governed by a company hired by your carrier that the majority of the time winds up with your carrier winning the dispute.

You might recall that last fall there were a flurry of rumors involving Deutsche Telekom either selling T-Mobile outright, or merging the company with a U.S. partner (Sprint was mentioned) in order to improve T-Mobile's fortunes in their battle against Verizon and AT&T. Now Business Week suggests that Deutsche Telekom is still looking at a number of options, including a T-Mobile IPO (which analysts in the piece say comes too late), or an acquisition or merger of a smaller prepaid operator like MetroPCS or Leap Wireless (which analysts believe is unlikely). The latest rumors originated in the Wall Street Journal.

• Just like "unlimited" broadband = "really, quite limited broadband"; Metro PCS: "No contract" = "Heck yes, there's a contract" [techdirt.com]
• BT to open up broadband tunnel network to rivals [Reuters UK]
• Google doppelgänger casts riddle over interwebs [theregister.co.uk]
• Apple's Bans Go Way Too Far [pcworld.com]
• Appeals Court Says Internet Content Should Be Held To Standards Of Strictest Jurisdiction [techdirt.com]
• Xbox Live tops $100 million in 2009 [gamepro.com]
• BlackBerry has spyware risk, too [cnet.com]
• Cox Accidentally Offers Everyone In Arizona A Free PlayStation 3 [consumerist.com]

• Cable Broadband Subs Top 105 Million Worldwide: Study [multichannel.com]
• Microsoft Exec Calls For 'Driver's License For The Internet' [techdirt.com]
• CTIA, Verizon, U.S. Cellular File Against Signal Boosters [wirelessweek.com]
• 3G networks cracking under strain - iPhone's fault? Nope. Facebook! [broadbandgenie.co.uk]
• Time Warner Cable To Increase in WiMax Investment [wirelessweek.com]
• Copyright Industry Responds To iiNet Ruling By Asking For Gov't Bailout; Aussie Gov't 'Studying' It [techdirt.com]
• 3D HDMI specification is set free [theinquirer.net]
• Mozilla overlooked malware-laced Firefox add-ons [theregister.co.uk]
• Nexus One on way to official faildom? [theinquirer.net]

The weekend is here, we're heading out to help DC-area residents shovel snow. Empty your thoughts into the comment section below. Just clean up after yourselves, you troublemakers.

As the broadband stimulus bill was being hashed out, you'll recall it was stripped of some very lucrative, carrier-lobbied-for tax credits that would have given companies like Verizon billions for doing absolutely nothing differently -- after the credits were exposed by the NY Times. With no cash giveaways, fears that taking funds could lead to additional regulations, and restrictions requiring that ISPs use the money on under-served areas, last summer found the biggest ISPs saying no thanks to $7.2 billion in stimulus funds.