Comcast turns customers’ routers into public hotspots; gets sued

A pair of Comcast customers recently sued the Internet provider for turning their Xfinity Internet routers into public Wi-Fi hotspots. Their argument was that Comcast’s actions pose risks to subscribers, especially since the company didn’t seek their authorization.

California residents Toyer Grear and Joycelyn Harris filed the suit earlier this month in U.S. District Court, seeking class action status on behalf of all Comcast customers who lease wireless routers that broadcast Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots. The complaint states, “Without authorization to do so, Comcast uses the wireless routers it supplies to its customers to generate additional, public Wi-Fi networks for its own benefit.”

As of December 4, both plaintiffs are seeking financial damages and an order to prevent Comcast from using residential customers’ wireless routers to create Xfinity Wi-Fi Hotspots without authorization. Grear and Harris allege that Comcast violated the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act as well as California laws on unfair competition and computer data access and fraud. They claim that the public hotspots broadcast from the same equipment used for subscribers' private Wi-Fi networks raise customers' electricity costs and harm network performance. The suit goes on to say that “upon information and belief, any activity on the Xfinity Wi-Fi Hotspot will appear as though it originated from the Comcast customer’s IP address.” The court issued a summons ordering Comcast to answer the complaint within 21 days.

A Comcast spokesperson told Ars Technica that a customer's private network and the public hotspot have separate IP addresses. Comcast has previously defended the hotspots, saying they do not pose security risks because they are walled off from each customer’s private network, and do not cause any noticeable performance drop. 

Story via Ars Technica.