Courts have rather consistently held that "envelope information", including billing records, are not protected by 4th Amendment search protections. IP address records are less certain.
Detailing IP address records on their bills gives them a powerful argument that they are billing records, too. AT&T is quite aware of their billing costs. They are a major expense for all of the long distance carriers. They are also aware of their legal expenses, and probably terrified of their potential civil liabilities in the spying scandal. An investment in billing (printing IP address details) may yield much greater legal savings.
Slashdot Mirror
Courts have rather consistently held that "envelope information", including billing records, are not protected by 4th Amendment search protections. IP address records are less certain.
7 /the_fourth_amen.html
http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/0
Detailing IP address records on their bills gives them a powerful argument that they are billing records, too. AT&T is quite aware of their billing costs. They are a major expense for all of the long distance carriers. They are also aware of their legal expenses, and probably terrified of their potential civil liabilities in the spying scandal. An investment in billing (printing IP address details) may yield much greater legal savings.