In case anyone has gotten the idea that multinational corporations are magnanimous, civic-minded pillars of society, this was revealed in a column by Stu Bykofsky.

Apparently, a man whose dog had been dognapped, held for ransom and tortured, and presumably killed, attempted to have Verizon track the number from which the dognappers called. He was told the police knew the procedure with which to get the information…which ended up meaning waiting 12 days and being charged 150 dollars.

For a phone number that was part of a criminal investigation?

Is it just me, or does it seem like corporations get away with a little more than the average citizen? Imagine if an average Philadelphian knew the number from which a criminal had contacted a victim, and waited twelve days to get back to the police, and then charged them $150.

Why can Verizon get away with this? It’s bordering on contempt. And for that matter, how hard is it to track that kind of information?