Comcast invades privacy.

After trying to renew my Internet service today because of an error, I have been rejected because of the fact that they need my Social Security number. Due to Comcast’s really bad customer service, but the fact that their Internet is so good, many people flock to it anyway.

This is an example of Comcast’s hegemony over the Internet service provider industry. Not only does it allow fast Internet uploading and downloading speeds (exceeded by only that of T1, which is a whopping $350 a month and mainly used by large corporations), but they also provide telephone and television service.

I see Comcast as a necessary evil in my life, just as Catholics see war as a necessary evil. We don’t like it, but we must live with it. There have been numerous reports about Comcast’s customer service being bad (and I don’t mean bad as in “this sucks”, but bad as in “I want my money back” and “You just lost a customer” bad). The reason is that we must basically sell our customer rights to Comcast in order to use the Internet, namely because there is really no other good alternative other than T1, and as we all know through the financial crisis, we aren’t made of money.

Thankfully, most cable companies and ISPs do not do this. But why does Comcast require SSNs? They use the guise of the Patriot Act. It was necessary after 9/11, but it is really not necessary right now.

So what does this have to do with Media Technology and Culture? Well, the Internet is a media technology and it does have a culture, but that’s beside the point. What I am saying here is that Comcast holds a death grip on its customers, trying to suck out whatever is left of our privacy that hasn’t been already sucked out by the Patriot Act.

It’s lame, really.