Comcast's management needs to watch "The Princess Bride", and pay attention to the famous line from Inigo Montoya:

"I don't think that word means what you think it means"

The word in question is "unlimited", with respect to bandwidth. From today's Boston Globe:

Amanda Lee of Cambridge received a call from Comcast Corp. in December ordering her to curtail her Web use or lose her high-speed Internet connection for a year.

Lee, who said she had been using the same broadband connection for years without a problem, was taken aback. But when she asked what the download limit was, she was told there was no limit, that she was just downloading too much.

Then in mid-February, her Internet service was cut off without further warning.

Amongst other things, this is just stupid, stupid PR. If you tell me that I have "unlimited" bandwidth, then don't come back later and tell me that I have a limit - or even worse, refuse to tell me what that limit is! It's become completely clear that Comcast doesn't actually offer unlimited bandwidth - and that fact isn't really the problem. The problem is that they claim to offer unlimited bandwidth. I'm typically not a huge fan of regulation, but this seems like a pretty cut and dry case of "truth in advertising" to me. Regardless, it's truly, truly stupid on a PR level.

Hat tip Doc Searls.

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