#51: Netflix Wins Hypo(crite) Award

Tech Policy Podcast

TechFreedom

Technology

4.8 • 45 Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2016

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Last week, Netflix copped to deliberately downgrading its video quality for AT&T and Verizon customers for the past five years -- without telling anyone. While the throttling isn't a net neutrality violation per se, since Netflix is not a broadband provider, it looks pretty hypocritical given the company's heated, absolutist rhetoric on the treatment of Internet traffic. It certainly poses serious concerns for transparency, and anti-competitiveness, since Netflix spared T-Mobile and Sprint customers from its throttling. Evan and Berin discuss the "mea culpa," its impact on net neutrality, and whether Netflix committed deception under FTC law by lying to its customers. For more, see Berin's post on Medium.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Tech Policy Podcast. I'm Evan Swartzchraber, your host. On today's show, Netflix
0:10.6	Hypocrisy. On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal broke a story where Netflix has for the past five years
0:18.0	been throttling the traffic of AT&T and Verizon customers, but not Sprint and T-Mobile.
0:24.1	Now, Netflix was one of the biggest proponents of strict net neutrality regulation, which the FCC adopted in June of 2015.
0:32.5	And when the FCC reclassified broadband providers, like your mobile phone provider and also your
0:39.3	wireline broadband provider like Comcast as telecommunications, common carriers, they impose some
0:45.7	strict regulations on them, including a regulation that broadband providers could not throttle
0:51.2	traffic. So while it would be not okay for a company like AT&D to just say,
0:57.3	hey, we're going to slow down Netflix traffic just because apparently Netflix thinks it should be
1:02.8	held to a different standard. And while the company says that it was doing this to help consumers
1:07.9	guard against going above your data cap, in theory, very reasonable.
1:12.4	Most Americans have a set amount of data they can use, especially on Verizon and AT&T plans.
1:17.9	You know, it's nice that Netflix was helping you avoid overage charges, but the problem is
1:22.9	Netflix didn't tell anyone about it. So there's a real transparency problem here, and transparency
1:27.4	is another facet of net neutrality. So there's a real transparency problem here, and transparency is another
1:28.1	facet of net neutrality. So joining me to discuss this is, are you a Netflix subscriber, Baron?
1:34.6	I am going to be when the new House of Card season comes back out, but I don't watch enough
1:39.3	video to continue to subscribe to it. You know there is a new season of House of Cars that just
1:43.8	came out like a couple weeks ago. Yes, but it is a new season of House of Cars that just came out
1:44.2	like a couple weeks ago. Yes, but yes. And I know the whole thing comes out at once, but I'm,
1:49.0	I'm catching up right now on Enterprise. And when I finish with that on Amazon, I will then
1:53.9	switch back and watch Netflix. All right. You really need to get with the program. But,
	...

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