Comcast Unleashes the Lapdogs

[Joanne98]

by Craig Aaron
It’s the 11th hour for Comcast at the Federal Communications Commission. They were caught secretly blocking legal Internet traffic. They lied about it. On Friday, a bipartisan majority at the FCC is expected to finally hold them accountable.Let’s review Comcast’s strategy so far:

When a network expert and barbershop quartet enthusiast figured out his legal file-sharing was being disrupted, Comcast denied it.

When the Associated Press, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Germany’s prestigious Max Planck Institute backed up his claims, Comcast stonewalled.

When the FCC held a public hearing on blocking, Comcast hired seat-fillers off the street to pack the room and applaud on cue. When the FCC held another hearing, they refused to show up.

None of that worked. So now they’re hounding the press with specious legal arguments and personal attacks on those who would dare challenge the cable giant.

Most responsible reporters see right through this bunk. But the cable flacks know there’s one place that always welcomes corporate spin: the Wall Street Journal editorial page. Where else?

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/31/10732/

[sakabatou]

1. DOWN WITH COMCAST!

[DavidDvorkin]

2. I think we need to give Comcast immunity from all prosecution

Because, you know, 9/11!

[Salviati]

3. Man, I so wish I got verizon FIOS here...

I'd switch in a heartbeat

[hopewell1985]

4. comcast

sucks

[fascisthunter]

5. I Have Known about this for Some Time

and yet have no other choice but Comcast. If I decided to go with DSL, I'd have to pay a boat load just to set it up....

I dislike Comcast's service very much... another repuke company.

[thecrow]

6. I had a discussion with Comcast this morning

They have been charging me RENTAL FEES for a decoder box I turned in LAST YEAR!
Apparently they took it off my bill last year in July but then readded it in August.
Now, I am guilty of not checking my bill. I also pay by auto payment from my bank.
(I have had a stroke and am overwhelmed by the bills, so this has generally worked out best for me)

Anyway after about 15 minutes she said she removed it and asked if there was anything "else" she could do for me.
I said I wanted to be sure all these charges were removed and that I was given the credit for the charges as they were not my fault, but Comcast's. Antoher 10 minutes... she said Yes, I have given you the credit for the $3.70 but I can only give it for the month in which you were bilked..er..billed....
I said No, you need to give me 12 month's credit, as these charges should never have been added!!
She said wait.....
ten minutes go by...
The she came back and said, I am refunding you the full credit for $29.70.
I said No.... (thinking of how democratic Comcast must surely be for hiring the learning impaired)
You owe me $44.40!!!!
Ten more minutes....
Ok you have the credit.

What do you bet this is added back next month??
I can't wait til my contract ends.

I figure if they are doing this to me, they are doing it to other people.
Each month they do it to only 100,000 of their millions of subscribers, that's an extra $370,000 income per month!
If they got away with it for a year on automatic pay accounts such as mine, it's $4,440,000 extra they are making!
What a scam.
I urge you all to REGULARLY check your Comcast bill for such indiscrepancies.
I know I will be.

[Joanne98]

7. Bastards.

[butterfly77]

8. Agreed...

[phrigndumass]

9. Comcast also disrupts phone calls using HotSpot At Home (T-mobile)

My only phone is a cell phone, and it works with my wireless internet connection when I'm at home. I have cable internet, and Comcast disrupts my calls and hangs it up after about one minute. We've had Comcast as our sole cable provider since they took over Insight here six months ago. Funny, I never had problems with HotSpot calls until Comcast bought Insight out.