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T-Mobile's Binge On Violates Net Neutrality, Says Stanford Report (tmonews.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The debate over whether or not Binge On violates Net Neutrality has been raging ever since the service was announced in November. The latest party to weigh in is Barbara van Schewick, law professor at Stanford University.
In a new report published today — and filed to the FCC, as well — van Schewick says that Binge on "violates key net neutrality principles" and "is likely to violate the FCC's general conduct rule." She goes on to make several arguments against Binge On, saying that services in Binge On distorts competition because they're zero-rated and because video creators are more likely to use those providers for their content, as the zero-rated content is more attractive to consumers.
In a new report published today — and filed to the FCC, as well — van Schewick says that Binge on "violates key net neutrality principles" and "is likely to violate the FCC's general conduct rule." She goes on to make several arguments against Binge On, saying that services in Binge On distorts competition because they're zero-rated and because video creators are more likely to use those providers for their content, as the zero-rated content is more attractive to consumers.
Online users choose content providers with web sites over content providers without web sites. Ergo, the WWW distorts competition and should be shut down.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
No, I believe a byte is a byte, no matter where it comes from, and should be charged as such. But, I recognize the necessity to meter a limited resource like wireless bandwidth. This effort by T-Mobile is not a way for choosing winners and losers -- it's a way of giving their customers added benefit of not having to limit their binge watching (I torrent, so this doesn't even affect me, anyway) during each month.
sig: sauer
The customers don't benefit when the entire industry is harmed. Imagine Comcast and Time Warner metering Netflix to 1 GB/month while letting you use their own video services without metering. Netflix would basically cease to exist, and take their programming along with them.
This is why net neutrality as a concept exists - so that the delivery companies don't get to decide which content providers are allowed to exist.