Re: Verizon Public Policy on Netflix

[Miles Fidelman <mfidelman () meetinghouse net>]

Ahad Aboss wrote:
> Interesting point.
>
> The truth is, the ISP is responsible for the quality of experience for their
> end customers regardless of what content the customers consume or what time
> they consume it. They pay  a monthly subscription / access fee and that is
> where it stops. ISPs can chose to blame Netflix until the cows come home or
> alternatively, they can do something more constructive, like deploying a
> cache solution or establishing  direct peering with Netflix in one of the
> POIs.

Well... if you make a phone call to a rural area, or a 3rd world 
country, with a horrible system, is it your telco's responsibility to go 
out there and fix it?

One might answer, "of course not."  It's a legitimate position, and by 
this argument, Netflix should be paying for bigger pipes.

Then again, I've often argued that the "universal service fund" used to 
subsidize rural carriers - which the large telcos always scream about - 
is legitimate, because when we pick up the phone and "dial," we're 
paying for the ability to reach people, not just empty dial-tone.  This 
is also legitimate, and by this argument, Verizon should be paying to 
improve service out to Netflix.

Either way, if one is a customer of both, one will end up paying for the 
infrastructure - it's more about gorillas fighting, which bill it shows 
up on, who ends up pocketing more of the profits, and how many negative 
side-effects result.

Methinks all of the arguments and finger-pointing need to be recognized 
as being mostly posturing for position.

Miles Fidelman

--
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.   .... Yogi Berra