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Level 3 Shaken Down By Comcast Over Video Streaming
An anonymous reader writes "It looks like the gloves are really coming off; Level 3 Communications had to pony up an undisclosed amount of cash to keep Netflix streaming to Comcast customers. Perhaps now the FCC might actually do something to ensure that the internet remains open. Level 3's Chief Legal Officer, Thomas Stortz, said: 'Level 3 believes Comcast's current position violates the spirit and letter of the FCC's proposed Internet Policy principles and other regulations and statutes, as well as Comcast's previous public statements about favoring an open Internet. While the network neutrality debate in Washington has focused on what actions a broadband access provider might take to filter, prioritize or manage content requested by its subscribers, Comcast's decision goes well beyond this. With this action, Comcast is preventing competing content from ever being delivered to Comcast's subscribers at all, unless Comcast's unilaterally-determined toll is paid — even though Comcast's subscribers requested the content. With this action, Comcast demonstrates the risk of a 'closed' Internet, where a retail broadband Internet access provider decides whether and how their subscribers interact with content.'"
You should have done what FOX and NBC have done in the past - Cut off Comcast. When that happens the customers invariably blame the cable company for being greedy, not the broadcasters or Level 3 or netflix
Then Comcast would be forced to stop banning netflix, else risk losing customers.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Keep the government out of my internet! The corporations can solve their problems in a way that the consumer is not effected!
Right?
Guys?
anyone?
Considering that Comcast posted a net income of over 3.5 billion last year I think asking them to reinforce their infrastructure so they can be competitive is not outside the realm of being reasonable.
Of course, in America where you may not have a choice in ISPs, this breaks down entirely and Comcast is free to do whatever they want.
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
Comcast says the issue with Level 3 is a peering dispute and says it "offered Level 3 the same terms it offers to Level 3s CDN competitors for the same traffic." The issue seems to be that the Level 3's addition of Netflix as a customer may have altered the balance of the traffic exchange between Level 3 and Comcast. In other words, Comcast says the volume of traffic is the issue, while Level 3 says the type of traffic is the issue.
So instead the paid the Danegeld. They can now expect a lot more Danes to come demanding their cut.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
I think you are too 1.0.
Customer: loading netflix...
Netflix: Sorry, Comcast has blocked Netflix because it competes with their own offerings. They were previously sued for this anticompetitive behavior, but it continues.
Your location was detected as [Philadelphia, PA], please click here for information to set up internet with: [ ] Verizon, [ ] RCN, [ ] Clear.
Please click here to upload a video to youtube requesting the department of commerce investigate this matter.
Please click here to connect to Netflix through 7 proxies.
-- I was raised on the command line, bitch
If Comcast are a monopoly supplier (ie customers cannot get broadband from another ISP) then maybe the customers who cannot get Netflix (or whatever else) should bring a class action suit against Comcast.
They could, but not many consumers are interested in getting a $15 coupon off Comcast cable eight years from now when the lawsuit is over. Our courts, the FCC, the DoJ are all so pro-big business as the result of both political parties' appointments at the behest of lobbyists that breaking antitrust law is just another profitable new business strategy.
Notice that the dispute is not between Comcast and Netflix -- it's between Comcast and Level3, which doesn't create content, only owns pipes. Level3 and Comcast have a "peer" agreement; they generate a similar amount of traffic, so they accept each others' traffic for free. That's a typical arrangement. However, this was before Netflix changed CDN from Akamai to Level3. Akamai sends much more traffic to Comcast than it receives, so it pays Comcast for receiving the traffic. That's also a typical arrangement. Now that Neflix will be going over Level3 instead, Comcast is just trying to negotiate the same deal w/ Level3 as with Comcast:
Net neutrality may be an important issue, but it's not the issue here.
TCP: Why the Internet is full of SYN.
GP is right. But it's all about public relations.
Netflix: Uh, well, that's your ISP's fault for not coordinating with our CDN.
Um. No. You'd say that only if you wanted to piss people off.
A real corporation would avoid jargon, and point fingers at someone else... Hell, they do that even when they *are* at fault.
In reality, you'd get something more like:
Netflix: We're sorry, sir. Who is your internet provider? Comcast? Unfortunately, that appears to be a problem that all Comcast customers are experiencing. Please contact your Comcast customer service. In the meantime, can we offer you an free upgrade to your DVD by mail service for three months?
I can see the fnords!
I take exception to your crack on Americans. I'm public school educated and I knew what Danegeld was without being told.
If historical trivia is your measure of proper education would you like to take a gamble that I could find some reasonably important but semi-obscure history that you're not aware of?
Full disclosure: I worked in a Comcast department that helped to determine what future internet bandwidth requirement were going to be. They fired me for reasons I don't feel like getting into, I'll try to give an unbiased account of what I think their thinking is.
Honestly, Comcast is extremely frugal. This can be both good and bad. In 2008, Wall Street types were encouraging them to take on a lot more debt before the debt bubble popped.
They do a lot of things in order to free up bandwidth and to satisfy bandwidth demand. It's not like they are sitting on their butts and collecting money. But what they are not going to do is put fiber optics straight to your home, which would be the clearest way to expand the amount of bandwidth. That is extremely expensive and only Verizon is doing that. No other telco is doing that.
When they are converting analog channels to digital, they are doing that to free up bandwidth. They are trying to roll out Switch Digital Video in order to free up bandwidth (80 or so channels which barely anyone watches in a given service group will be swapped in and out when needed). They split off customers into different service groups to mitigate this as well. They are constantly monitoring this and a lot of hard work goes into this.
What I think is going on is not that they are worried about cable revenues going down (and I think they know that it is inevitable) but they are freaking out about an increase in web video eating up all their bandwidth. I can't be certain about this. But you have to also understand a corporation has several different parts. One part might not care about something while another part may view Netflix as an existential threat.
So while I would love to bash Comcast because I feel they screwed me over, I can't sit here and tell you that they aren't doing anything.
However, Verizon does have a superior product in my opinion which works better for reasons I could get into. But that basically comes down to the fact they don't have much legacy equipment on their system and they went with fiber-to-the-home instead of fiber-to-the-neighborhood.
Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.