According to an inside source, Comcast is trying to hunt down who leaked the internal BitTorrent memo to us last week. The rumor is that they’re interrogating supervisors and then customer service representatives. Memos regarding the dire consequences of providing internal information to the press are being distributed.
Reached for comment, the leaker said, “I really don’t care… I am happy I turned over a few rocks and let the world know.”
Trust us, Comcast, you’re never going to find Deep Throat. Go back to doing what you do best, sleeping on customer’s couches and raising prices.
PREVIOUSLY: Comcast’s “We Don’t Throttle BitTorrent” Internal Talking Points Memo
Yea, God forbid they actually provide better customer service and lower prices when they could just lie to us about throttling bandwidth, choking bittorrent, and going on hunts for people providing inside info on their horrible management.
Comcast sucks.
What is their problem? Does admitting they blocked bittorrent open them up to a lawsuit? If not, customers will have a lot more respect for them if they just come out and say “Yes we blocked bittorrent. We made a mistake. We’re sorry. We won’t ever do it again.” Saying that will also just end this story and we can all move on.
It’s funny when a company treats their workers like s*** and then expects them to fight tooth and nail to protect its reputation.
How can they justify a search like this? If I was working for comcast I would get everybody I know together and start releasing every memo I could get my hands on.
@bravo369:
They could actually have their “Common Carrier” status revoked because of this, i.e. the damage may already be done. If that happens they are then responsable for *anything* hosted on their servers or that goes thru their network.
Comcast has dropped three channels from my analog lineup in the last month. Even though I didn’t watch them the fact that they’re gone and not replaced with anything is annoying. The monthly fee is the same. To go to digital w/ their DVR is $24/month more than I pay now.
Thanks for reminding me I need to call Dish so I can dump comcast.
Only problem I have with comcast is thier fee for moving a cable modem from one outlet to another ($50 for 10 minutes worth of work?) and the fact they raise prices every year and lie about how it’s for hiring more tards or some other lame excuse.
Wow, This is one place where a union would come in handy.
Comca$t LIES to the public and the AP, and only when the memo is leaked are they forced to admit it. If Deep Throat is caught and fired, he/she should be able to sue the crap out of Comca$t in the name of the public’s right to know false advertising (or something, IANAL).
@homerjay: So true! Union employees would just be laughing right now if management tried to pull crap like this.
The HammaGramma would so smash that memo to pieces.
Little does Comcast know Consumerist’s mole is none other than (dun-dun-dun!) CEO Brian Roberts!
/end speculation
Pardon me, it has been a while since I’ve taken business law- but don’t whistle blowers get some manner of protection? And isn’t what Comcast was/is doing a crime?
(Both honest questions :) )
@SOhp101: “It’s funny when a company treats their workers like s*** and then expects them to fight tooth and nail to protect its reputation.”
I personally find it hilarious because I see it happen so often. As soon as I’m done with my former job (they still owe me money) I think they’ll be surprised at all the things I’m now willing to say about them because my paycheck no longer hangs in the balance.
@bravo369: I thought I heard that there already was a lawsuit against them by EFF and some other organizations. Maybe that was just a rumor though.
@JeffM: Whistleblowers get protection from being fired for blowing the whistle.
However, it doesn’t protect them from “excessive tardiness.”
Hoo boy! Let the witch hunt begin! (Hint: The Witch Hunt at the Massachusetts Bay colony didn’t go down so well! Care to repeat it?)
Well, at least Comcast is clearing having a Comcastic day!
@Jaysyn:
If they were a common carrier, then that status could be revoked. Since they’re not, it can’t be. This could only be a danger to their “safe harbor” status (i.e. can’t be prosecuted because a user sent kiddie porn over their network) if they were to block content by type (i.e. restricting porn torrents but allowing bible torrents).
I thought I would never go back to Southwestern Bell/SBC/AT&T. Comcast’s crappy service and this is making me reconsider. I wish I had more options for the internets.
If Comcast ends up facing a class-action lawsuit (or even computer fraud suit), this person should be covered by the Whistleblower act, I would hope. However, that does not mean that they should reveal themselves.
@Starfury: Personally, I would never go with Dish. A few years ago I got unsolicited faxes for Disk Network all the time. I think the only reason that stopped is because the Texas AG stomped American Blast FAX. Bad thing aboout sat services, when you get a severe thunderstorm, rain-fade kills your signal. That’s not a time when I want to be without some timely news (and see the radar image), so you have to keep a radio or something.
I am considering dropping Comcast all together (have the triple play)–I don’t use the land line and I’m not at home as much these days to watch TV. All I really want/need is high speed Internet.
@rptrcub: Their price for Highspeed Internet with “Powerboost” is too high, they want 52 a month for their standard connection without a cable tv subscription. Still though once direct tv has set boxes that can just hook up to ethernet rather than phone I’m switching.
@JustAGuy2:
Yeah, you’re right, I was getting the terms confused. If Comcast was common carrier, they’d not be allowed to filter spam emails.
I just love reading Comcast articles. It’s so entertaining to watch them scramble. I can’t wait to read about what they do next! (I am obviously not a customer and would rather use rabbit ears than pay them any of my money)
I’m guessing that they’re going after Deep Throat on the basis that he/she released a ‘confidential’ memo which is gonna have a negative influence on their stock price. Obviously, IANAL – I hope the Whistleblower act prevails.
Comcast knows snitches end up in ditches.
If they were just doing something that was a valid business practice, then they might have a case to look for the leak.
Comcast must not realize that doing this makes them look bad–like someone said, you don’t go after whistle blowers.
Hey Comcast, we just want internet service, not your opinion on how we use it.
Nobody expects an inquisition!!
Nobody expects an inquisition!!!
A leak about a leak, both of which fuck with Comcast: I love it! That place has got more leaks than the Iraqi navy.
@warf0x0r: $52? You’re lucky, Comcast quoted me $67 if I did not have TV.
@Starfury: We’ve lost AMC, Oxygen, WE, SOAP, LMN, and ESPN Classic since Comcast took over our market. I’m not sure if there’s some sort of “lady package” where one can get Oxygen et al, but it certainly doesn’t change the fact that they didn’t lower the price in relation to the reduced content…
I voted with my dollars.
I just canceled Comcast’s triple play and started service with a different company.
I told them that I was canceling because of this.
This is great stuff. Comcrap is in quicksand. The harder they fight & squirm, the deeper they get. Give up losers. You lost, the consumers have your number. Thugs, bullies, losers, whimps and cowards.
@nursetim: Nobody expects it twice in a row! ^_^
Don’t know why my comments never show up…Hopefully I’m not talking to air again.
Anyway, I just voted. I canceled Comcast and went with DSL. I don’t really need cable TV. I don’t watch it. But I sure did like telling them why I was canceling. The guy tried to pull more information from me, but the moment I said ‘Sandvine’ he shut up and said that he’d cancel the account immediately.
Heh.
It sounds like a classic case of “The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves!”
Nice Metal Gear Solid reference with Deep Throat. Surprised nobody else caught it.
Yeah, no. “Deep Throat is the pseudonym given to Deputy Director of the FBI William Mark Felt, Sr., who was the secret source who leaked information about the involvement of U.S. President Richard Nixon’s administration during the first Watergate break-in and subsequent events that came to be known as the Watergate scandal.” (Wikipedia).
I do love the idea of a company that can’t get a truck to my house on time trying to conduct a complicated internal witch hunt.
I passed (CEO) Brian Roberts and shot him the look of death (taught to me by none other than my mother) when I was walking to work the other day. Needless to say, I’m sure he felt his nice fat wallet in his back pocket, which put a big smile on his face and kept on walking… All-in-all I felt like I gave him a piece of my mind – since there’s no way I can give them a real piece of my mind by switching to another ISP becuase they are the ONLY game in town. :(
@nursetim: The line is: “Noooooobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!”
[en.wikipedia.org])
Yeah, yes. There WAS a character in Metal Gear Solid named Deep Throat until his actual name was uncovered later in the game. It depends on who the editor was referring to, in which I assumed it to be Metal Gear Solid due to this sites ties to Kotaku. Therefore I was not necessarily wrong, as both the FBI agent and the Metal Gear Solid character leak information.
Well, there wouldn’t have been any leaks to investigate if the whistle-blower hadn’t any wrong-doing to whistle-blow on.
I work at the Comcast office where the ‘leak’ came from, and I’ve seen no such interrogations or questioning… and although management is well aware of the leak that was posted I’m sure, stuff like “Memos regarding the dire consequences of providing internal information to the press are being distributed.” is just blatently untrue. Most people who work here don’t even know or care, and those of us that do are just curious who the person is for the sake of curiosity. :-P