I have stumbled into a situation where Cox is fraudulently telling people that they need to pay for an "extra service" to stop popups from Cox, popups that Cox itself is injecting into the middle of internet sessions with totally unrelated web sites.
The situation: you are browsing the web, connecting to an arbitrary web site, when a popup from Cox suddenly appears, looking as if it came from that web site. But it didn't - Cox injected it into your session. The popups are being used for things like asking you to upgrade your modem, with a Cox logo, a number to call, and a URL to click -- exactly as if this was a phishing scam [i.e., you should _never_ click on such a link!].
This violation of net neutrality is bad enough -- injecting Cox commercial messages into the data stream of any web site you happen to be accessing. But it gets worse.
When I called Cox to inform them, and to complain, I was told (incorrectly) that the popups were not coming from Cox. Rather, I was told that the "only way" to stop these popups was to subscribe to an "extra service" -- with a signup fee and a monthly subscription fee! (I was first told $10.00/month but have since heard it can be $15/mo). I was told that this "service" would need to make changes to some "settings" on my computer. I.e., a problem that Cox is causing -- violating internet neutrality by hijacking browser sessions -- could only be stopped if I paid them more money for this bogus "service"! This wasn't just one bad service rep saying this -- I was told this by four different people, including managers, in three different departments. That's extortion, and fraud.
If this has happened to you -- and especially if you've been misled into signing up for this "service" -- you need to (a) contact your local government agency in charge of regulating cable providers and inform them of what happened, (b) call Cox and demand a refund for any charges related to these "services".
Cox claims that their customer support and internet service groups have now been informed that they are, in fact, generating these popups. But those same groups earn bonuses for up-selling this technical service; they are still likely to try to convince you that your computer is "infected" and this "service" will solve the problem. Because Cox says they will continue to use these bogus popups to "communicate" with customers.
The only way to stop this idiocy is to complain loudly, both to Cox and to their regulators, if you ever see a popup from Cox while browsing to a different web site, or if Cox tries to get you, or anyone you know, to subscribe to this "service" as a result of your reporting them.
And if you are told, as I was, "Cox doesn't do that", don't believe it. It happened to me, and to at least one other person that I'm aware of, here in California.
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