[LACNIC/Napla] Net neutrality - Netflix

Mon Mar 28 17:20:09 BRT 2016

NETFLIX, ONE OF the most outspoken corporate champions of net neutrality
<http://www.wired.com/tag/net-neutrality/>, admitted this week that it
sends lower quality video to mobile subscribers on AT&T and Verizon’s
networks.

Streaming video is data-intensive, and Netflix says many subscribers worry
that watching video on a phone will max out their monthly mobile data
allowance. Hence the company’s rationale for throttling video quality to
mobile Internet providers that ding customers who exceed their data caps.

If Netflix wants to send a lower quality feed to AT&T mobile subscribers,
nothing about the principles of network neutrality bars it from doing so.

And it’s the concept of data caps, or the idea that mobile providers must
limit the amount of data subscribers use because of network congestion or
other issues, and not net neutrality, at the heart of Netflix’s argument
for throttling video. You could argue there are problems with Netflix’s
decision. But it’s not being hypocritical.
It’s not about net neutrality

To those who followed the net neutrality debate closely, Netflix might
appear to be contradicting itself, as it was among the biggest supporters
of federal rules restricting Internet providers from charging websites to
access users at faster rates. These rules, however, do not restrict how
websites connect to users based on the type of Internet connection they
have.

“I don’t see any contradiction here between Netflix’s net neutrality
position and deciding to limit streaming speed to certain networks,” says
Harold Feld of the consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge. “Asking how
Netflix can do this when it supports net neutrality is like asking why
don’t hockey teams use a designated hitter like baseball.”

The concept of net neutrality revolves around not letting Internet
providers interfere with traffic between Internet users and websites; it
doesn’t apply to how websites decide to connect to users of different
providers. If Netflix wants to send a lower quality feed to AT&T mobile
subscribers, nothing about the principles of network neutrality bars it
from doing so. In fact, as Feld points out, websites have been
using versions optimized for mobile and desktop users for years.

Internet providers traditionally justify data caps by claiming they’re
necessary for good network management, particularly during network
congestion when many people are trying to use spectrum at once, like at
8pm, for instance. But data caps typically do not vary based on the time of
day; they’re monthly limits. Capping data, says Feld, “does nothing about
timing, so it doesn’t solve congestion. Mostly, bandwidth caps are about
monetizing scarcity and avoiding the cost of upgrading the network.”
Throttling your video stream

Netflix is part of T-Mobile’s Binge On package
<http://www.wired.com/2016/01/t-mobile-confirms-it-slows-connections-to-video-sites/>,
which lets subscribers stream unlimited video through participating
providers like Netflix and YouTube, but the lower quality stream is
implemented by T-Mobile (a practice that does raise serious net neutrality
concerns <http://www.wired.com/2015/11/t-mobiles-zero-rating/>). Video
streaming companies that have not joined Binge On, however, receive
downgraded video speeds. Sprint, the other company that Netflix doesn’t
alter stream quality for,used to throttle
<http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/10/sprint-to-throttle-unlimited-data-after-customers-use-23gb-per-month/>
all
streaming video on its mobile network, but ended the practice last year
amid broad consumer opposition.

The difference in streaming quality on mobile networks came to light after
T-Mobile claimed in a video posted to Twitter that AT&T and Verizon
customers were getting a lower quality Netflix experience than T-Mobile
customers.

The issue with Netflix throttling speeds to some users and not others may
be more a matter of consumer trust and transparency than anything else.
“Netflix should have disclosed this clearly to their subscribers,” said
Michael Calabrese of the New America Foundation’s Open Technology
Institute. “If Netflix misled their subscribers, it may be an FTC issue.”

Netflix admitted to the practice in a statement
<https://media.netflix.com/en/company-blog/helping-netflix-members-get-more-from-their-mobile-data-plans>
claiming
that, “in an effort to protect our members from overage charges when they
exceed mobile data caps, our default bitrate for viewing over mobile
networks has been capped globally at 600 kilobits per second.” Keeping the
data low is important for users with monthly caps. According to a report
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/netflix-throttles-its-videos-on-at-t-verizon-phones-1458857424>
in
theWall Street Journal, Netflix estimates two hours of of HD video consumes
up to 6 gigabytes, surpassing the monthly data allowance for a single phone
on Verizon’s $80-a-month plan
<http://www.verizonwireless.com/landingpages/verizon-plan/>.

And that’s a choice many subscribers will probably not want to have to
make. Netflix might not be violating the principle of net neutrality by
selectively slowing down its video stream. But when you’re binge-watching,
the speed of your stream is not something a lot of people want to think
about. They’d rather just chill

*HERNÁN ARCIDIÁCONO *
Director de Tecnología y Operaciones

Virrey Cevallos 422 | C1077AAJ | Bs As | Argentina
Directo: 54-11-5031-6411
*IPLAN* | iplan.com.ar <http://www.iplan.com.ar/>

2016-03-28 17:16 GMT-03:00 ariel sabiguero yawelak <asabigue at fing.edu.uy>:

> Lo más interesante que me pasó es que me saltó el siguiente aviso:
>
> Here’s The Thing With Ad Blockers
> ------------------------------
>
> We get it: Ads aren’t what you’re here for. But ads help us keep the
> lights on.
> So, add us to your ad blocker’s whitelist
> <http://www.wired.com/whitelist-wired/> or pay $1 per week for an ad-free
> version of WIRED. Either way, you are supporting our journalism. We’d
> really appreciate it.
>
>
>
> es decir, no puedo ir a Wired si no pago o si no me dejo (rastrear)....
>
> ¿alguien me transcribe el texto del artículo sobre netflix?
>
> gracias!
>
> ariel
>
> El 28/03/16 a las 16:52, Fabián Mejía escribió:
>
> Hola a todos
>
> Interesante lectura para iniciar la semana:
> http://www.wired.com/2016/03/netflix-no-net-neutrality-hypocrite-slowing-video/
>
> Netflix, one of the most outspoken corporate champions of net
> neutrality, admitted this week that it sends lower quality video to
> mobile subscribers on AT&T and Verizon’s networks.
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> https://mail.lacnic.net/mailman/listinfo/napla
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>

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