The Washington Post editorial page yesterday published a self-serving piece that openly advocated the approval of a merger between NBC-Universal and Comcast, creating one of America’s largest and most concentrated media companies.  But considering who owns the Post, the editorial might as well have been written by Comcast CEO John Roberts.

Containing only a non-specific disclosure that the newspaper “has interests in broadcast and cable television,” the editorial laments interference from “advocacy groups” that oppose the merger, claiming they are “poor prognosticators of the effects of large media mergers.”  The newspaper found no problems with media concentration in the United States, which itself should be an indictable offense, until one realizes the company that publishes the newspaper is, itself, a concentrated media company.

The Washington Post and Cable One are both owned by the same company.

The newspaper owns Cable One, a particularly nasty, low-rated cable operator that spied on its broadband customers and overcharges them for broadband service through a complicated Internet Overcharging scheme.  In fact, Cable One is the cable company that brought America the “$10/GB overlimit fee,” a low blow for the company’s customers on the so-called “economy tier,” which delivers pathetic 1.5Mbps service with a maximum limit of just 1GB!  This is the kind of cable company that proves sometimes dial-up service -is- better.

As far as the Post is concerned, the FCC will keep America safe from any uncompetitive market-power-enabled-abuses from a Comcast-NBC behemoth, itself a stunning statement from a newspaper that claims to know what is really going on in Washington.

Even our readers know complaining to the FCC about anything is like talking into a black hole.

When it comes to the Washington Post editorial page, profits come first, and Cable One can generate them with its own abusive pricing practices.

For the rest of the country, the irony of a dead-tree-format newspaper finger-pointing at advocacy groups (that don’t own cable companies), accusing them of getting the future wrong is a mighty rich irony.

The reality-based America I live in thinks media is already too-consolidated, too shallow, and increasingly abusive and too expensive.  The Post‘s advocacy of a mega-merger like Comcast-NBC only points to just how out of touch the newspaper is getting these days.  As Americans clamor for more media diversity, more competition, and more choices at lower prices, the Washington Post is just fine with the exact opposite.  But then you’d expect that from a company whose business plan depends on it.

Cable ONE intentionally eavesdropped on what its customers did online in order to profit from targeted advertising.  That is the allegation contained within a class action lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Alabama Northern District Court.

The suit alleges the cable operator installed network monitoring software from NebuAd, an advertising provider, which monitored and profiled customers for the purpose of delivering customized, targeted advertising.

Cable ONE is named as defendant in the suit because the company did not inform customers that such profiling was taking place, and never gave customers an opportunity to opt out, according to the complaint.  NebuAd itself has not being named in the suit.

Customer Samuel Green claims NebuAd paid the cable company a “price per customer, per month” and placed tracking cookies on his computer to follow his online activities.  He accused the company of violating his privacy.  The lawsuit establishes a class action case opening the door for a settlement with every customer, potentially nationwide.

The suit asks for damages of $100 per day for the period Cable ONE utilized the tracking services of NebuAd.  It also demands the company destroy all of the data the suit alleges was wrongfully obtained.

The case is being handled by Florence attorney Joey K. James.

Cable ONE, owned by the Net Neutrality-bashing Washington Post, has turned the art of broadband service into a science of confusion for its customers.

In addition to introducing a forthcoming new, faster tier of service, offering speeds at 12Mbps downstream and 1.5Mbps upstream, Cable ONE has been tinkering with their convoluted usage capping system, which combines a daily usage allowance with throttled speeds and exempt periods during traditionally lower usage hours.

See if you can understand their new usage limit chart, and even if you can, ask yourself if your parents will pick up what they are putting down:

(Click to enlarge)

Karl Bode at Broadband Reports thinks “Standard Speed” refers to Cable ONE’s throttle — reducing effective speeds by half, assuming you exceed your “threshold.”  The limits shown are reset daily.  Exceeding that limit many times during a month can technically get your service suspended, but we’ve not heard of anyone who either hasn’t been able to talk their way out of it with company officials or who haven’t been bothered by local system managers who are probably just as confounded by this crazy cap scheme as we are.

Cable ONE customers like the new speed offering, if and when it arrives in their respective communities, but hate the silly usage allowances and speed throttles that accompany them.  As Stop the Cap! has always said, consumers are beating the doors down waiting to throw more dollars at broadband providers who offer them the higher speed service they desire.

Instead, some providers would rather create Internet Overcharging schemes to reduce demand and expenses, and profit the proceeds.  If given a competitive choice, consumers will leave a cap-happy provider for someone else who actually listens to customers.  Unfortunately, for too many Americans, the key words are “if given a competitive choice.”

A customer in Boise notes, “I can’t even watch a full movie from Netflix without getting my speed cut in half.  I started the movie at 12pm and by 1pm my speed was cut in half.  When I called Cable ONE and asked about my bandwidth, they wouldn’t even tell me if I crossed the threshold limit.  They kept dancing around my question with ‘it may have been reduced.’  Wake up Cable ONE!”

Many Cable ONE customers are located in smaller cities and communities that currently have just one other option – DSL service from the local phone company.  For many residents, that tops out at 1.5Mbps or 3Mbps downstream.  But for some, it’s better than being usage capped by cable.

Perhaps Cable ONE would do good to watch their own advertisements, which promise: “It’s the way we always listen, to every word you say; loud and clear is how we hear, there’s just no other way.”

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Stop the Cap! calls on Cable ONE to discard confusing, impenetrable usage allowances that few customers can find on their website and even fewer actually understand.  Investing in your network with the proceeds of higher speed premium service tiers and making upgrades to DOCSIS 3 can provide additional bandwidth and profit opportunities while customers can sit back, “enjoy the fun with Cable ONE,” and relax with the broadband service they pay good money to receive.  Cable ONE already provides customers with a way to self-regulate their usage, by selecting a speed tier that is comfortable for them and their anticipated Internet needs.

There is bad, and then there is REALLY, REALLY BAD.

CableOne punishes you if you exceed your daily usage allowance.

CableONE’s new residential broadband Internet Overcharging pricing achieves new lows among American broadband providers – low caps that is.

The company has boosted the speed of its residential broadband services, and lowered the allowance you receive each month to use it.  The “Economy” package, if used to any degree for anything beyond e-mail and a smattering of web page viewing each month, will wreak havoc on any household budget.  Providing just 1.5Mbps downloads and 150kbps uploads for $26 a month, your monthly usage allowance is just ONE gigabyte.  Exceed that at your financial peril.  The overlimit penalty is a whopping $10/GB, and that full $10 is billed whether you exceed your allowance by one byte or 999 megabytes.  CableONE graciously limits their Money Party to a maximum $50 in overlimit penalties, putting your broadband service you thought you paid $26 for at the “reasonable” price of up to $76 a month.

But there is a way to steer clear of the overcharging, if you are a night owl.  The company turns the “meter” off from 12 midnight until 12 noon the following day.

CableONE’s other residential plans now also have lower consumption allowances, designed to limit your day to day use of your broadband service.  Instead of adopting a monthly maximum allowance, the company imposes daily limits that do not “roll over” from day to day.  If you use your connection heavily one day, but not at all the next three, you could still find yourself over the limit.

Standard Service: 5Mbps/500kbps – $49/month – 3 GB Daily Usage Limit
Premium Service: 10Mbps/1Mbps – $59/month – 5 GB Daily Usage Limit

Going over your limit between one and 14 days per month will result in an automatic downgrade in your broadband speed to the next lowest tier.  Exceed it more than 15 days per month, and your account will be terminated.

The company has suggestions for customers who want to reduce their usage to stay compliant.  Right on top: stop watching those online videos.

Suggestions for Reducing Bandwidth

CableONE’s service counts bytes used during the peak usage period which is defined as 12 noon to 12 midnight.

The following types of usage consume high amounts of bandwidth and should be avoided during peak usage period:

• Movie downloads
• Streaming Video
• Picture downloads or uploads
• Leaving your browser open on pages that “refresh” automatically

Some of the programs you have installed will try to update themselves periodically by downloading files. You can typically set your program to schedule updates during off-peak times. Windows software can be set to update overnight as well. Updates and large downloads done between midnight and 12 noon do not count against your allocation.

Subscribers, particularly in southern Mississippi, have had an increasingly difficult relationship with CableONE.  In March, a subscriber announced a lawsuit against the cable operator for gouging customers on set top boxes, required for digital cable viewing.  CableONE charges its customers $11 a month for a regular Motorola cable box and $23 for its HD-DVR box.  In June, a suspicious white powder was found in the Biloxi CableONE office, that was later determined to be harmless.

An unintentionally amusing CableONE ad follows the jump below.

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