Government of the District of Columbia
Executive Office of the Mayor



Office of Cable Television and Telecommunications
3007 Tilden Street, N.W., Pod-P
Washington, D.C. 20008

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 2007

CONTACT: ERIC E. RICHARDSON, DIRECTOR
202-671-0066

The District Advises Comcast Customers to Carefully Review Comcast’s Arbitration Notice and Consider its “Opt-Out” Provision

(Washington, DC) The District of Columbia's Office of Cable Television and Telecommunications (OCTT) issues this press release to advise District of Columbia residents who subscribe to Comcast’s cable television service that they should: (1) carefully review the “Arbitration Notice” that Comcast recently mailed to its District-based customers; and (2) carefully consider whether their interests would be best served if they “opt-out” of the Comcast Arbitration Provision (the “Provision”).

Pursuant to the terms of its Arbitration Provision, Comcast may prevent any of its customers who are bound by the Provision from attempting to resolve a dispute against Comcast by way of any process other than arbitration. In other words, Comcast could prevent its affected customers from initiating, in court, a law suit regarding any of a large number of alleged unlawful acts. The list of claims that Comcast could force before an arbitrator (and thus prevent from being presented to a court) includes, but is not limited to, claims alleging fraud, misrepresentation, negligence and other intentional wrongdoing. It appears that affected customers would also be prohibited from participating in any class action law suit filed in court against Comcast.

Comcast’s Arbitration Provision also includes a term that allows its customers to “opt-out” of the Provision within thirty (30) days of the date on which the customer received the Arbitration Notice. OCTT advises every District-based Comcast customer to: (1) carefully read the entire Arbitration Notice; and (2) carefully consider whether their interest would be best served by opting-out of the Arbitration Provision. Because the terms of the Arbitration Provision limit the number of options that District residents have to resolve their disputes with Comcast, OCTT considers the Arbitration Provision to be “customer-unfriendly.”

Customers who desire to opt-out of Comcast’s Arbitration Provision should notify Comcast (in writing) that they “do not wish to resolve disputes with Comcast through arbitration.” That written notification should be either: (1) mailed to Comcast, attn: Legal Department / Arbitration, 1500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102; or (2) made to Comcast at its website: www.comcast.com/arbitrationoptout.

For more information regarding OCTT, please visit the agency’s website:
http://www.octt.dc.gov