Comcast 2008 Annual Report Download - page 15

A handful of states and the District of Columbia have
enacted privacy laws that apply to cable services.
We are also subject to state and federal rules and laws regarding
information security. Most of these rules and laws apply to
customer information that could be used to commit identity theft.
Forty-five states and the District of Columbia have enacted security
breach notification laws. These laws generally require that a busi-
ness give notice to its customers whose financial account
information has been disclosed because of a security breach. The
Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) is applying the “red flag rules”
in the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 to both
financial institutions and creditors. Because we permit customers
to pay us for services usually 30 days after they receive them, we
are considered a creditor according to the FTC’s interpretation of
the rules. We intend to comply with these rules, which become
effective for us on May 1, 2009, by using an identity theft pre-
vention program to identify, detect and respond to patterns,
practices or specific activities that could indicate identity theft.
We are also subject to state and federal “do not call” laws regard-
ing telemarketing and state and federal laws regarding unsolicited
commercial e-mails. Additional and more restrictive requirements
may be imposed if and to the extent that state or local authorities
establish their own privacy or security standards or if Congress
enacts new privacy or security legislation.
Employees
As of December 31, 2008, we employed approximately 100,000
employees, including part-time employees. Of these employees,
approximately 89,000 were associated with our Cable business
and the remainder were associated with our Programming and
other businesses. Approximately 6,000 of our employees
(including part-time employees) are covered by collective bargain-
ing agreements or have organized but are not covered by
collective bargaining agreements. We believe we have good rela-
tionships with our employees.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
The SEC encourages companies to disclose forward-looking
information so that investors can better understand a company’s
future prospects and make informed investment decisions. In this
Annual Report on Form 10-K, we state our beliefs of future events
and of our future financial performance. In some cases, you can
identify these so-called “forward-looking statements” by words
such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “believes,” “estimates,”
“potential,” or “continue,” or the negative of these words, and
other comparable words. You should be aware that those state-
ments are only our predictions. In evaluating those statements,
you should specifically consider various factors, including the risks
and uncertainties listed in “Risk Factors” under Item 1A and in
other reports we file with the SEC. Actual events or our actual
results may differ materially from any of our forward-looking
statements.
Additionally, we operate in a highly competitive, consumer-driven
and rapidly changing environment. The environment is affected by
government regulation; economic, strategic, political and social
conditions; consumer response to new and existing products and
services; technological developments; and, particularly in view of
new technologies, the ability to develop and protect intellectual
property rights. Our actual results could differ materially from
management’s expectations because of changes in such factors.
Other factors and risks could adversely affect our operations,
business or financial results of our businesses in the future and
could also cause actual results to differ materially from those con-
tained in the forward-looking statements. We undertake no
obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
Item 1A: Risk Factors
All of the services offered by our cable systems face a wide
range of competition that could adversely affect our future
results of operations.
We operate in an intensely competitive industry. Our cable sys-
tems compete with a number of different sources that provide
news, information and entertainment programming to consumers.
We compete directly with other programming distributors, includ-
ing DBS companies, phone companies, companies that build
competing cable systems in the same communities we serve and
companies that offer programming and other communications
services to our customers and potential customers, including high-
speed Internet and voice service providers. Our business and
results of operations could be adversely affected if we do not
compete effectively.
We may face increased competition because of techno-
logical advances and new regulatory requirements, which
could adversely affect our future results of operations.
In addition to marketing DBS services in certain areas, local phone
companies have built and are continuing to build wireline, fiber-
optic-based networks and, in some cases, are using IP technology
to provide video services in substantial portions of their service
areas. Local phone companies and various other companies also
offer DSL and other Internet services. We expect other advances
in communications technology, as well as changes in the market-
place, to occur in the future. If we choose technology that is not as
13 Comcast 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K