Rich Fiscus
23 Jul 2008 13:32
A class action lawsuit against Comcast has been filed in Portland, Oregon alleging the company misrepresented their internet service. The suit was filed by Gilbert Randolph, which was already involved in similar actions in California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Washington DC where the firm is based.
By filing in Federal Court instead of yet another state they make they're making any settlement or decision against Comcast available to people in every state where the cable giant offers internet access.
That assumes a judge grants the suit, which was filed on behalf of Robert Topolski of Oregon, class action status. Given the large number of lawsuits currently pending against Comcast, the largest cable company in the US, that seems like a good bet.
Alyson Foster, an associate at Gilbert Randolph, said “Comcast surreptitiously installed receiver packets to keep people from using file-sharing programs when it promised it wouldn’t. Of course the competition is fierce in telecommunications, but they were trying to get an unfair leg up,”
Foster characterized Comcast's practices as an attempt to make their internet service seem better than it actually was at the expense of P2P users. “Comcast surreptitiously installed receiver packets to keep people from using file-sharing programs when it promised it wouldn’t." said Foster. "Of course the competition is fierce in telecommunications, but they were trying to get an unfair leg up,”