Comcast has announced that, in light of legal obstacles, it is abandoning its proposed takeover of Time Warner Cable.

On Thursday, a Comcast customer filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that Comcast shared his personal information with a third party without his consent, in violation of the cable privacy provisions of the Communications Act.

Today Public Knowledge announced Recast Comcast, a contest to remix the slew of recordings of poor Comcast customer service that have been appearing on the internet this summer. This contest challenges everyone to remix these various recordings into something amazing, and hopes to create something positive out out many hours spent on Comcast customer service calls. As the grand prize, Public Knowledge will pay the winner’s last Comcast bill.

Public Knowledge and the Open Technology Institute File Petition to Deny with FCC on the Comcast/Time Warner Cable Merger

Tomorrow, Public Knowledge President and CEO, Gene Kimmelman, will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the hearing titled, “Examining the Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger and the Impact on Consumers.”

Public Knowledge is on the other side of a lot of public policy issues from Verizon. That said, Verizon’s new “Custom TV” plans are a move in the right direction. It’s great to see a company announce–and then launch–a new approach that is good for viewers, good for the provider, good for competition and ultimately good for programmers, as well.

The last few months have brought us a spate of Comcast horror stories and Comcast-hate. Most recently, a recording of a subscriber spending 20 minutes trying to disconnect his Comcast service has prompted some investigating into Comcast’s service and employment practices. What does this have to do with the FCC’s decision about the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger?

Yesterday, Public Knowledge and the Open Technology Institute joined many other organizations in filing our formal Petition to Deny with the FCC, asking it to stop the merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

A new video showcases the harms from a merged Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Control of almost half of all high speed Internet customers, the ability to dictate terms to anyone who wants to connect with it, and poorer customer service are just the tip of the iceberg.