Comcast Responds

Comcast has responded by email to the blockage of my wife’s outgoing email service:

It sounds like your account was triggered by our national network management team. Comcast manages our network to ensure the best possible broadband experience to all our customers as our network bandwidth is not an unlimited resource. We use network management practices that are consistent with other internet service providers and they continue to evolve as the use of the network changes almost every day. If we did not manage our network, our subscribers would be subject to negative experiences such as spam, viruses, and network congestion. The residential service that you are subscribing to is intended for personal and non-commercial residential use. You can find our Acceptable Use Policy on our Comcast.net homepage for more information.

I will need to speak to our network management team on Monday to determine the reason for the trigger and to better understand what happened to your account. I certainly understand the frustration that you and your wife have experienced particularly given the sensitive nature of her work. Comcast does offer commercial broadband service which allows for business related activity without the interference that you may be subject to with our residential service. This may be a better option for you based on the volume and sensitive nature of your wife’s work. If you are interested in looking into our commercial broadband service, I can certainly have someone work with you to understand the choices available to you. If you prefer to look at other providers, I certainly understand but hate to lose your business.

First, I read Comcast’s Acceptable Use Policy, and there is nothing that even remotely addresses the issue of someone checking their work email from home.

Second, I think that Comcast is on a slippery slope by suggesting that someone who checks work email from home should get a commercial account.

Third, I think that Comcast’s lack of transparency about a make-believe policy to interfere with someone’s email capability - especially someone deals with international life and death issues - with no warning or written policy is inexcusable and possibly illegal.

Lastly, we pay Comcast a considerable amount of money each month to be a high-speed pipeline to the Internet and worldwide email access.  We do not share files or stream video or play games, practices that would consume considerable broadband volume.  We do not pay Comcast to be an email censor.  

I have no issue with Comcast monitoring its online resources but when a person simply checks their work email from home, and when downloading a few dozen emails triggers an automated block by Comcast on that work email … well, that is a form of censorship.  In this case, censorship of religious freedom and human rights issues.  And, I believe that is morally and ethically wrong, especially when the censorship is imposed by a company that has a monopolistic stranglehold on a community.

Remember what I wrote in my first blog on this subject — that Comcast always creates its own problems.