Consumer Reports has released its annual list of companies that were “naughty and nice” for the holiday season, and wouldn’t you know it, the magazine listed most of the cable industry as “naughty.” The publication singled out Time Warner Cable (TWC) for its recently-adopted practice of charging customers monthly fees of $3.95 for leasing out cable modems, although it also said that this practice has been adopted by most major players in the industry including Comcast (CMCSA), Cox and Bright House. Consumer Reports wrote that although the companies “allow customers to purchase and install their own modems outright, less-tech-savvy folks might be reluctant, assuring the companies a steady stream of extra revenue.”
