Last year Cablevision employees in Brooklyn voted to unionize for the first time in the company's history, a significant move given the fact that just 2-4% of cable technicians are unionized. The unionization has resulted in a heated feud ever since, with Cablevision suing the CWA for claims about sub-par service and post Sandy robocalls aimed at getting users to call in for refunds. Last month Cablevision went so far as to fire 22 Cablevision employees and key union leaders who stopped work one day and demanded face time with Cablevision executives.

Cablevision has since rehired those workers after their firings saw a month of extra attention from political candidate hopefuls and the unions. Still, the workers say they continue to struggle with poor or no health care and low wages, and their efforts to negotiate a first contract are facing Cablevision roadblocks:$20,000 in New York City will of course buy you a nice hat, and workers say they were simply using Cablevision's "open door policy" to speak to executives about low pay. After the firing, the CWA tried to push the city council to pull Cablevision's franchise agreement, and the negative PR simply grew too hot for Cablevision to handle.

John Malone has made a wager that Charter Communications will thrive in currently rough seas. According to Bloomberg, Malone's Liberty Media will be taking a 27 percent stake in Charter for roughly $2.62 billion. As part of the deal, Liberty gets to assign four individuals to Charter's board of directors. After exiting bankruptcy in 2009, Charter has struggled with historically low customer satisfaction rankings, but is starting to see more positive cash flow under the watch of new CEO Tom Rutledge. Rutledge has been behind more than a few controversial moves of late, ranging from ceasing support of customer-owned modems to shutting down their entire "UMatter2Charter" social and online support department.

Numerous pay TV companies have thrown their support behind Cablevision, who earlier this week sued Viacom, claiming the company violates antitrust law by forcing cable TV companies to buy channels in bundles. Mediacom, Time Warner Cable, DirecTV and others all issued statements supporting Cablevision. "There's no question that the current all-or-nothing system dictated by programmers is completely broken," insisted DirecTV in a statement -- while Mediacom insisted forced bundling is "hurting consumers." Comcast, who now owns all of NBC after arguing such massive vertical integration isn't a problem for the end user, is remaining silent on the issue for obvious reasons.

Cablevision has filed suit against the Communications Workers of America, claiming the union has been making "patently false and defamatory claims" about the company's broadband services in New York City. According to a Cablevision statement, the CWA has repeatedly made claims that Cablevision service is slower in Brooklyn than in other parts of the company's footprint.

I've been known to ding an ISP or two for stupid behavior, but everything I saw from a front row seat during hurricane Sandy suggested that every ISP in the impacted region handled Sandy aftermath with aplomb, kindness and efficiency. ISPs were one upping one another seeing who could help out the most -- from mobile charging stations to automatic refunds and free voice and SMS service.

Last week Cablevision announced that they would be issuing service credits to customers impacted by Hurricane Sandy, even if their service was down due to a loss of power and not system damage. Not to be outdone, Verizon tells Broadband Reports they'll be doing the same thing, something our readers may find useful as power returns to many areas impacted by the storm. "We routinely credit our customers when they’re out of service, whether for power outages or other reasons where service has been impacted," says Verizon. "We will of course do the same for those affected by Hurricane Sandy."

While Cablevision has yet to reveal how they plan to compete with Verizon's new "Quantum" FiOS speeds up to 300 Mbps, Multichannel News directs our attention to the fact that the cable operator is undergoing a branding refresh for their Optimum line of services. According to a press statement the company is redesigning the logo (see above) and changing their brand for the first time in ten years. The new logo and branding will be immediately deployed "across all customer-facing platforms and executions" accompanied by a new suite of television ads." "Our new logo and branding campaign reflects our commitment to honesty, transparency, the quality of the services we provide and – importantly – how we interact with our customers." That's a pretty impressive resume for a little yellow dot.

During the company's earnings conference call this week (see transcript), Cablevision CEO Jim Dolan said the company hopes to have their network DVR service available to all of the company's customers by the end of the year. After a long but successful legal battle against broadcasters, Cablevision quietly launched their network DVR service (aka the RS-DVR) back in January in portions of The Bronx. The cable operator then expanded the service's footprint to portions of Brooklyn, Long Island and Connecticut. The service stores content at the network head end, eliminating the need for local storage on the DVR -- and Cablevision's currently offering test customers 160 GB of storage for $11 a month.

Last month Verizon raised the bar for residential broadband (and high prices) when they announced their new Quantum FiOS tiers, which included a new top shelf 300 Mbps downstream, 65 Mbps upstream tier for $205 a month. Not to be outdone, sources tell Broadband Reports that Comcast is planning to offer a 305 Mbps downstream tier sometime before the end of the year in FiOS markets.

The FCC has released their latest report exploring whether broadband ISPs are delivering the speeds they promised. Last time you'll recall the report singled out Cablevision for failing to deliver advertised speeds during peak hours, something that resulted in the company significantly improving service without the FCC having to wield the regulatory hammer.

With the resignation of two top Cablevision executives in two weeks last December (including COO Tom Rutledge, who left to become Charter CEO), the rumor mill started to churn with rumblings that Cablevision could be looking to sell. Now another Cablevision executive has left the company. Jonathan Hargis, executive vice president of marketing, is resigning and will leave the company later this month "to pursue other opportunities." Again, analyst speculation is that Cablevision is shaking up the ranks ahead of yet another Dolan attempt to take the company private, or they're preparing to sell their properties. Time Warner Cable has long been a rumored buyer, but the deal never seems to materialize.

Back in 2009 Canadian Cable company Cogeco imposed new low usage caps with per gigabyte overages as high as $2.50. The problem? Cogeco didn't make sure their meters actually worked before hungrily jumping on the metered usage bandwagon, with inaccurate or conflicting usage amounts being reflected via online Cogeco usage meters and customer e-mail alerts.

• Comcast CEO offers sneak peek at X1 service [fiercecable.com]
• Time Warner Cable closes its $3 billion acquisition of Insight Communications [multichannel.com]
• Record Labels Threaten the Open Internet, isoHunt Tells Court [torrentfreak.com]
• Cablevision rate freeze is bad news for Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner Cable [fiercecable.com]
• Wireless carriers are getting left behind, and it's their own fault [fiercewireless.com]
• UK ISP Be admits iPlayer traffic has overloaded and crippled its network, no fix until April [theregister.co.uk]
• What Happens When You Get ‘Throttled’? [pcworld.com]
• Senator will end his block on the current nominees for FCC Commissioner, if the FCC provides the documents related to LightSquared to the House Energy & Commerce Committee [fmqb.com]
• Comcast Ready to Mine for VoD Gold [lightreading.com]
• Apple, Google and Microsoft 'unlikely' to adopt key GSMA privacy rules [pcadvisor.co.uk]
• Constitutional Showdown Voided: Feds Decrypt Laptop Without Defendant’s Help [wired.com]
• Home Installation - You're doing it wrong: Comcast van crashes into house, causes major damage [fiercecable.com]

• Broadband stimulus scandals: Missteps in the buildout, and what's at stake [fiercetelecom.com]
• Metro-PCS warns new promotion could raise subscriber prices [totaltele.com]
• Apple snags multipoint touchscreen patent - can sue the bejeezus out of everyone now [theregister.co.uk]
• Phone apps help themselves to our contacts,Google tracks our web history,and supermarkets monitor our buying habits: The end of online privacy? [guardian.co.uk]
• 802.11ac ready to scream into the marketplace [fiercebroadbandwireless.com]
• The five biggest U.S. cable operators, plus Time Warner, are trying to prevent Dish Network from securing trademark on TV Everywhere [multichannel.com]
• Sources: New Apple TV launching in March, near-immediate availability hinted for new iPads [9to5mac.com]
• Less than 1M GoogleTV devices in use [gigaom.com]
• GSM mobile standard wide open for attack; corrupt telcos, more computing power to blame [theregister.co.uk]
• Apple to reveal iPad 3 on March 7th [fiercewireless.com]
• WiFi from LED lights? [mobile-ent.biz]
• Raspberry Pi credit-card sized Linux PCs are on sale now, $25 Model A gets a RAM bump [engadget.com]

• Cablevision develops technology for WiFi-based mobile phone service [fiercecable.com]
• Is the Open Web Doomed? Open Your Eyes and Relax [techpresident.com]
• MPAA Sues LimeWire Back From The Dead [torrentfreak.com]
• Since 2009, Mobile Internet Usage Has Doubled Every Year [readwriteweb.com]
• Cricket Wireless has the music industry feeling chirpy: MuveMusic helps labels tap vast underserved audience - people who can't afford computers [latimes.com]
• WiFi in flight has yet to soar [pcworld.com]
• Wireless Firms Live Or Die With Smartphone Strategies [investors.com]
• Simplexity MVNO Services will launch wireless service with Sprint [cnet.com]
• Motorola seeking 2.25% of Apple's mobile sales for 3G patent use [techspot.com]
• Antitrust hearing planned for Verizon-Time Warner deals [jsonline.com]
• Hackers wanted $50,000 to keep Symantec source code private [cnet.com]
• Woman fights copyright suit by claiming porn can't be copyrighted [torrentfreak.com]
• Verizon's double data promotion reappears Friday [cnet.com]
• HUD Google Glasses are real and they are coming soon [9to5google.com]
• EU takes its data privacy seriously; why won't the U.S.? [fiercetelecom.com]

• Apple, RIM deny providing backdoor to customer data for government of India [theregister.co.uk]
• How France's Free.fr service will reinvent mobile [gigaom.com]
• Homeplug Power Alliance announces AV2 standard to support broadband speeds [eetimes.com]
• After beating Verizon in false advertising lawsuit, new Cablevision ad claims Optimum Online faster than FiOS [fiercecable.com]
• Entrepreneurs see opportunity in new race for domain names [wsj.com]
• Doubts cast over EU funding for UK broadband projects [ispreview.com]
• Will Microsoft's new WiFi-NC set a new network standard? [networkworld.com]
• Nokia looks to AT&T for US comeback [lightreading.com]
• In-Game purchase revenues to increase to $4.8BN in 2016, up from $2.1BN in 2011 [marketwire.com]
• Half of smartphone owners willing to watch ads for free apps [arstechnica.com]
• Mobile app usage further dominates Web [flurry.com]
• MySpace to re-invent itself as "over the top" Web TV experience [allthingsd.com]
• CenturyLink to bring IPTV to Qwest markets, expand FTTN network [fiercetelecom.com]
• In-Car wireless raises security, safety concerns [firecebroadbandwireless.com]

Earlier this month Cablevision sued Verizon for FiOS ads highlighting FCC data showing that Cablevision wasn't delivering the speeds users are paying for. As of August, Cablevision delivered just 50% of advertised speed during peak periods, a fact Verizon quickly made use of in FiOS marketing.

• U.S. judge draws line between "journalist" and "blogger", fines woman $2.5 million [seattleweekly.com]
• Anti-Piracy group blackmails ISP's to censor The Pirate Bay [torrentfreak.com]
• Verizon & cable spectrum - Is FCC open to frenemy competition? [forbes.com]
• HDTV & Computer - Why they are one and the same [devicemag.com]
• Metro-PCS still open to Clearwire spectrum, will add more EV-DO [fiercewireless.com]
• .xxx opens for business as smut site slings lawsuit; Policies proposed on child pr0n, piracy and censorship [theregister.co.uk]
• Netflix backed bill on video disclosure passed by US House [bloomberg.com]
• Quad play demand driving wireless urgency on part of cable operators? [tmcnet.com]
• Wes Virginia avoids losing broadband funds [devicemag.com]
• PayPal bows to Internet scorn, agrees to release Regretsy funds [consumerist.com]
• Cablevision 'markedly improves' broadband performance in October [multichannel.com]
• How researchers can shut down your phone while you are driving using your phone's bluetooth [autoblog.com]
• Security cited in Veizon's Google Wallet nix [networkworld.com]
• Android Market now on par with Apple with over 1 billion downloads a month [allthingsd.com]

• The scope of capabilities and proposals in the world of commercialized spookware is 'breathtaking' [theregister.co.uk]
• Data shows removing rogue sites doesn't make a difference [techdirt.com]
• Cablevision says it neutralized a major DDoS attack on November 29th [multichannel.com]
• FCC Chairman defends release of scathing draft AT&T/T-Mobile report [multichannel.com]
• Carrier IQ now not just for Android - references discovered in iOS, too [theverge.com]
• Verizon, Leap trade spectrum for LTE, EV-DO build-outs [fiercewireless.com]
• ‘The Pirate Bay Dancing’ Add-On Killls DNS and IP Blockades [torrentfreak.com]
• Clearwire: Playing chicken? [lighteeading.com]
• Hackers claim to jailbreak RIM's Blackberry Playbook [yahoo.com]
• Bing bans holiday sales sites - including one that created Cyber Monday [searchengineland.com]
• Today is filesharing pioneer Napster's last day of existence [CNN Money]
• Could employers begin asking for Facebook passwords? [yahoo.com]
• Alibaba-led group planning to make pkay for all of Yahoo [bloomberg.com]
• 30% of iPhone 4 users paid those ridiculously high early termination fees to get at iPhone 4s [yahoo.com]
• Best Buy recalls 32000 Rocketfish charging cases for overheating [totaltele.com]

• Internet video viewing hits all time high [fiercecable.com]
• CyberMonday sales 30% higher than last year [businessweek.com]
• The eternal debate: Do broadband customers get the bandwidth they pay for? [networkworld.com]
• UK regulator: Mobile service is better than broadband [digitalspy.com]
• Global mobile connections approach 6 billion [cable360.net]
• Cableco's increase subs in 3rd quarter [cable360.net]
• Amtrak capitol corridor trains launch free WiFi [sacbee.com]
• Operators improve voice service on LTE [lightreading.com]
• Laptops nuke sperm, claim researchers [Reuters UK]
• Mobile apps to get ratings like video games [MSNBC .com]
• Cablevision plugs in network DVR in New York and Connecticut [lightreading.com]
• Verizon accounts for 60% of LTE customers [totaltele.com]
• Big Brother's MS's Kinect2 reportedly able to lip-read and decipher emotions [winrumors.com]
• Sen. Joe Lieberman Asks Google For A 'Report Blog As Terrorist' Button [techdirt.com]
• NCTA to FCC: Let All-Digital MSOs Encrypt Basic Tier [multichannel.com]