Comcast Seeks Dismissal of Suit From Roommates of Subscriber

California residents living in a home where Comcast provided cable, Internet and TV service aren't themselves customers and thus can't sue for allowing information about them to be accessed by third parties, the company said in a reply filed Thursday U.S. District Court in Sacramento in support of its motion to dismiss or compel arbitration. Laurie Montoya and others sued Comcast in 2015 after hackers allegedly used their residence's IP address to place VoIP calls that resulted in Sheriff's Department, ambulance and SWAT team responses to the Montoya home and in money taken from one of the Montoyas' PayPal accounts. Comcast said in its reply that the relevant statutes "make no sense if the word ‘subscriber’ is redefined to include others who may use the services." While the Montoyas "lived in a house where some other person is the subscriber who purchased Comcast services ... the statutes do not apply to all roommates and guests of Comcast's subscribers," the company said, saying the claims must be dismissed. Even if the plaintiffs were entitled to the same benefits as subscribers, Comcast said, "equity requires they be treated the same as Comcast's actual subscribers and ... should be required to arbitrate," the company said. The Comcast subscriber is not part of the suit. The plaintiffs didn't comment Friday.