Comcast Laws

Comcast offers a variety of home data services.

No laws are specific to Comcast, but there are a variety of laws that Internet service providers and cable television providers must comply with on a routine basis. In addition to the laws that govern how media companies must act, Comcast is also bound by its own customer agreements, policies and service disclosures to which all new users must assent.

Federal Communications Policy Act

The Federal Communications Policy Act of 1984, or the Cable Act, specifies how cable companies must collect and disclose personally identifiable information. The general purpose of the Cable Act is to promote competition among cable companies and also to allow for the deregulation of the industry. How Comcast complies with the Cable Act is outlined in the customer privacy notice available on its website.

Comcast Policies

Comcast maintains different policies for its voice service, television service, Internet service, Wi-Fi service, home security service and Internet 2go service. These policies generally set forth how customer complaints are handled, service charges, installation procedures, customer obligations and general Comcast procedures. Although these documents are binding on Comcast users and on Comcast, they can be unilaterally modified, meaning that Comcast can change its policy at anytime without asking you for your consent.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or the DMCA, is one body of law that is extremely applicable to media providers such as Comcast. The DMCA governs how media providers must real with instances of copyright violation over their networks. Under its Acceptable Use Policy, Comcast describes how users must comply with the DMCA and how violations can be reported to Comcast.

Other Laws

Other laws that generally apply to media providers such as Comcast include libel and defamation laws, copyright law, patent law, trade secret law and computer security law. Because these various broad areas of law are different in every state, they vary in their applicability to Comcast throughout the U.S.

References

• NOLO Legal: When Is an ISP Liable for the Acts of Its Subscribers?
• Betanews: Court Rules That FCC Can't Stop Comcast From Throttling Traffic
• Comcast: Comcast XFINITY Customer Privacy Notice
• Cnet: FBI, Politicos Renew Push for ISP Data Retention Laws
• Comcast: Customer Agreements and Policies/Service Disclosures

Resources

• Comcast: Law Enforcement Handook
• Cnet: Is Comcast's BitTorrent Filtering Violating the Law?
• The Wall Street Journal: Internet Gets New Rules of the Road
• Bloomberg Businessweek: High-Speed Internet Rules Might Prove Costly
• University of Texas: Is Your Library an Internet Service Provider?