

Netflix streaming speeds on Comcast jump 65 percent after controversial deal - asaddhamani
http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/14/5613280/netflix-streaming-speeds-on-comcast-65-percent-faster

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massappeal
That is beyond messed up. We really need to get the internet classified as a
utility.

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cheald
What exactly is messed up? The bottleneck was the Comcast/Cogent interlink,
which Netflix has now bypassed, which was the entire point of the deal.

The idea that Netflix is paying protection money so that Comcast doesn't do
the old "Nice service you got there, it'd be a shame if someone throttled it"
(as is implied in the article) is just incorrect. Netflix was buying transit
from Cogent. Cogent couldn't deliver the transit that Netflix bought due to
conflicts with Comcast. Netflix stops buying transit from Cogent and starts
buying transit from Comcast. Comcast delivers all the transit that Netflix
buys. Everyone is happy except for Cogent.

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massappeal
My concern isn't that they bypassed the middle man; in theory that could be a
good thing in the long run. I'm more concerned about Comcast becoming the
arbiter of who gets access to their network, and how much that access will
cost. By classifying the Internet as a utility, Comcast has to standardize
access (again, in theory).

