agreed. i'm not sure it would ever get to that point...but this is a bad precedent isnt it? as it sits, comcast is getting paid double fold (comcast subscribers and now netflix) but they also have netflix metaphorically by the balls right? lets say they decide to tell netflix they are increasing their fees to pay for the access? either netflix ponies up or gets stuck messing with the same issues all over again. netflix ponies up, costs just get passed to the consumer. i don't know. am i reading into it all wrong?
You bring up some valid points. I am working with a cooperative to bring better internet to a rural region. While I completely agree the ISP's are shady as hell, I understand their issues. What I have discovered to be the true enemy is free market solutions. You can't fault the ISP's for not wanting to build out further at 20-30 year losses for many customers. As much as I believe in net neutrality, companies like netflix can't expect to saturate the backhauls and expect equal treatment. Just wait until full network OTT TV comes into play. For this to work, everyone has to play ball; this includes ISP's, backhaul providers, utilities, municipalities, government and anyone else who can prevent solid internet from reaching their place.
Exactly, I guess what really bothers me here is that Netflix is playing the victim. Also, I made a mistake when I said that. I meant to say some of these customers aren't close to these CDN's where netflix content resides
To show you how terrible the coverage is in the US http://a.tiles.mapbox.com/v3/fcc.connect2compete/page.html#7/38.204/-98.839 Keep in mind DSL is barely considered broadband.
This would benefit Comcast more than it will benefit Netflix. I mean, for crying out loud, they're (or were) REDUCING bandwidth to Netflix streamers. Netflix had to bend over backwards and give them what they want. None of this benefits anyone but Comcast -- one of the biggest, if not biggest, ISPs out there. Net Neutrality has reared its ugly head.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/37nfG8m0XzQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Good video explaining the situation.
This is a good video explaining the basic 101 on internet connectivity. I had a good laugh when he suggests that a VPN will solve your connectivity problems. The Tier 1 (Cogent Communications) talk is a red herring. The video seems to lump most Americans into the 'cable' category. If you would view the map that I listed above, you will see how little cable covers America. This is significant because DSL is dead. The video fails to distinguish the difference between cable TV and cable internet. Cable TV is indeed going the way of the dodo, but cable TV is the high end level in the US. You can have wet dreams of fiber to the home all night long, but it will be a long ways off before it is common as cable. "The Last Mile". (IE: Your ISP) This is the most significant issue. The cost is enormous to "upgrade" a customer. And to what? You can't split fiber like you can cable. Customers these days expect everything for free. To get fiber into a neighborhood of 100 homes could easily cost half a million. Also these "50Mbps" plans are shared. The video downplays the 8Mbps streams, but what they fail to take note is that many households can be streaming 2 or 3 movies at once. All it takes is a few houses in the neighborhood to bring the whole neighborhood to a crawl. My personal opinion is that Netflix should charge more for 1080P movies. I personally believe it will require government intervention to bring better internet. If I had to guess the future, we will see a hybrid satellite/hardline solution for super hi-res TV in the future with a lot of deregulation and resellers.
<iframe src="http://www.funnyordie.com/embed/c38fb80a0d" width="640" height="400" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen></iframe><div style="text-align:left;font-size:x-small;margin-top:0;width:640px;"><a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c38fb80a0d/comcast-doesn-t-give-a-f-ck" title="from Greg Tuculescu, Tarik Ellinger, Ian Pfaff, Eliza Skinner, Jason Carden, Funny Or Die, Evan Scott, Jack & Justin, Parker Seaman, Jessica Leigh Schwartz, BoTown Sound, and Andrew Grissom">Comcast Doesn't Give a *****</a> from <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/tarik_ellinger">Tarik Ellinger</a> <iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?app_id=138711277798&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.funnyordie.com%2Fvideos%2Fc38fb80a0d%2Fcomcast-doesn-t-give-a-f-ck&send=false&layout=button_count&width=150&show_faces=false&action=like&height=21" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:90px; height:21px; vertical-align:middle;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe> </div>
