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Lawsuit Accuses Comcast of Cutting Competitor's Wires To Put It Out of Business (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A tiny Internet service provider has sued Comcast, alleging that the cable giant and its hired contractors cut the smaller company's wires in order to take over its customer base. Telecom Cable LLC had "229 satisfied customers" in Weston Lakes and Corrigan, Texas when Comcast and its contractors sabotaged its network, the lawsuit filed last week in Harris County District Court said. Comcast had tried to buy Telecom Cable's Weston Lakes operations in 2013 "but refused to pay what they were worth," the complaint says. Starting in June 2015, Comcast and two contractors it hired "systematically destroyed Telecom's business by cutting its lines and running off its customers," the lawsuit says. Comcast destroyed or damaged the lines serving all Telecom Cable customers in Weston Lakes and never repaired them, the lawsuit claims. Telecom Cable owner Anthony Luna estimated the value of his business at about $1.8 million, which he is seeking to recover. He is also seeking other damages from Comcast and its contractors, including exemplary damages that under state statute could "amount to a maximum of twice the amount of economic damages, plus up to $750,000 of non-economic damages," the complaint says. CourtHouse News Service has a story about the lawsuit, and it posted a copy of the complaint.
Comcast's careful cable operations are legendary. They really care about all their customers and the public at large. Right? Right? Remember this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Just because I can hook a shark from a boat, I do no offer to wrestle it in the water.
"[D]uring the time Mr. Luna spent calling, the contractors had cut three additional cable lines. Defendants paid no notice to Telecom’s markings and continued to destroy Telecom’s lines, and Telecom's complaints fell on deaf ears. One would like to believe that the destruction was accidental, but the comprehensiveness of it—coupled with Comcast’s prior interest in Telecom—renders such a conclusion doubtful. Within six weeks, Defendants destroyed or damaged the lines servicing every single Telecom customer in Weston Lakes, and not one of those lines was ever repaired by Defendants."
Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.
He's asking for less than ten years of revenue. While his chances of selling at that price depend on a lot of factors, it's not at all an unreasonable number on its own.
Typically when appraising a company for purchase you'd do something like multiply out by at least 5 years. If you look at their trajectory and they've been growing year over year this might be a low price.
If these actions were perpetrated by multiple individuals in Comcast's employ... well that, right there, is a conspiracy. And its a conspiracy to cause criminal damage and defraud.
Not quite racketeering, but I'm sure that a creative States AG could find more.
Still waiting.
This is a test of the entire criminal justice system. This is a bell-weather indicator of whether or not there actually *is* justice today.
Well, that's when it all breaks down, because there is no justice and nothing will happen because such a large and wealthy company can do whatever it wants. They own the politicians.
Repair costs. Damage to reputation. Business lost from customers who didn't sign up due to the damages.
But microwave links as well are being sabotaged by some one. Not sure who it is. Everything from aluminum spray paint on the dish to metallic epoxy injected into the device shorting it out. And of course, making it un-repairable.
And in Texas, all you have to be is a major monopoly and own a few lobbyists, and you get whatever it is you want. Insurance, banks, health care, and telecom frequently write the laws they want to give it to their paid for state congress critter. Sometimes, they even forget to remove the water marks on the legislation, so when you download the proposed bill, it's right there in the metadata. And there are rarely any edits for more than correcting grammar or spelling.
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
Telecom is inherently interstate in nature. This would probably qualify for federal RICO action, which can be filed privately for civil damages (and is much harder to get tossed if you can back up your accusations). And if the feds take it over, it becomes criminal (and whoever filed it originally still gets a large chunk of the now probably much larger judgment).
Note that a privately filed RICO lawsuit does not require the permission or cooperation of any prosecutors (and interference from them can get them into a lot of trouble).
229 customers is a significant share of the market in a city of only 2300 people in 2008.
Apparently only 1300 homes currently. I would assume a lot less back in 2007, considering the population is now 3500
Jail time for every technician involved, and at least a few layers up in management. Folks need to be scared to participate in illegal activities, even when ordered by their superiors.