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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.
The court should take that $1 million in damages, and multiply it by 100, and order Comcast to (1) Pay $100 Million+, (2) Send a short notice to all of Telecom Cable LLC's former customers Explaining what they did and apologizing, and (3) Order Comcast to pay an additional $100 Million per Year, for every year in which there is not another competing wireline Cable company such as Telecom Cable LLC with at least 229 customers in the area..
My roommate had Comcast Internet in the early 2000's. Every time a Comcast truck came through the neighborhood we had technical troubles. One time we went a month without Internet service until Comcast finally sent a tech out to check the pole. The last tech installed a bypass filter backwards.
As to why Comcast would resort to these tactics, the answer, simply, is because they work.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Assuming it even happened. Have not seen anything except what was stipulated in the lawsuit filing. But something doesn't sound right. If this was happening why wait a few years to file, and in the meantime the owner didn't stay in Texas but moved to NY State. That is very odd. My guess is owner lost control over the business because they couldn't compete on internet speed. Also not only Comcast is here but ATT as well, both with fiber. Again would have to see objective proof of damage before making too many snap judgements.
Also Weston Lakes has some fairly expensive homes, so my guess is residents got tired of excuses and started switching when Comcast entered the market.
"The company had limited growth potential."
If that's the case, why did Comcast come into the same market?
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
If an individual sabotaged a company's property in the same way that Comcast is alleged to have done they would be had up on criminal charges and likely be looking at prison time. This acts as a pretty good deterrent against such behaviour and in cases where it does not everyone at least gets to see that there are significant consequences for seriously bad choices.
If the allegations are true then massive fines against the company will do little to hurt any individuals who are actually responsible for the decision to behave this way and will instead hurt investors and rank-and-file employees in the company collapses. The best deterrent is to make those responsible for the decisions criminally liable for them too. Do not let them hide behind the company: they made the decision they should have to deal with the consequences.
This is what is so nauseating about modern corporate behaviour. It's not that companies misbehave - they are made up of humans so it will always happen - what is terrible is that those responsible for the behaviour make out like bandits while the investors and rank-and-file employees are left carrying the can.
Comcast employees admit they cut the wires, but they claim that they thought the wires were abandoned.
Which is why you typically test for active signal on a line before you cut it.
Yaz