Looming threat for Netflix: Charging consumers for data use

[dixiegrrrrl]

This article has LOTS of info and lots of issues in it, worth the read.

Key points:

*Internet service providers who are moving to charge consumers for every bit of data they consume.
( first I have heard of this, but it is the next logical step past usage caps.)

*Internet service providers say the new billing approach is needed because video watchers are hogging their networks.
In New York, San Francisco and other cities smartphone users have complained that they cannot get online during peak hours because networks are congested.

*55 to 60 percent of all broadband Internet traffic will be made up of videos by the end of the year,

*Netflix, one of the Internet’s biggest bandwidth hogs, could be among the companies hardest hit.

and this was especially interesting: Remember when Netflix recently bragged about providing streaming only to Canada,
hyping the fact Canada was going to be a HUGE market?

*In Canada, the Silicon Valley firm has even degraded the quality of its streaming videos so users don’t go over their broadband caps.

some questions:

Has Netflix provided broadband the perfect excuse to charge us more for connectivity?
Has Netflix shot itself in the foot?
Will broadband become an "elitist" service, only for those who can afford the ever climbing fees?

Link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/looming-threat-for-netflix-charging-consumers-for-data-use/2011/07/26/gIQAqTSmbI_story.html

[DJ13]

1. Yes. Yes. Yes.

[nomb]

4. yes

[tridim]

2. So do we get to pay for ad bandwidth too?

Freaking awesome.

[Romulox]

3. If the bandwidth to our homes is free, then why doesn't Netflix just offer its own broadband service

?

The answer is that it costs quite a lot to provide broadband services to homes. Netflix's business plan seems to have envisioned endless amounts of bandwidth at no cost...

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. exactly. And strangely, it seemed to think providers would not notice

the "theft" of the "last mile" of connection.

I find it hysterical that within weeks of "opening up" Canada to streaming, Netflix is now degrading their content.

[ejpoeta]

14. strange how other countries have more competition than we do here. they have tv and broadband AND

phone service for the price we pay for just one of those things. they all compete on the SAME LINES. here we can't even get these companies to improve the lines that exist already unless municipalities and towns and cities try to build their own. then the states step in to pass laws making it illegal to build your own. but then let's just let the cable and internet companies do whatever they want to.

[lbrtbell]

6. It's about time

Netflix deserves to suffer for putting mom and pop video stores out of business.

And I get tired of condescending people acting like, "Ew, I don't have cable, I'm too smart to waste money like that"--when, in reality, they're unfairly devouring tons of bandwidth that the rest of us don't.

You want to download hi-def movies? Then pay for the extra bandwidth. Otherwise, quit trying to get something for nothing, and pay your damned cable/satellite bill.

[KeepItReal]

7. Data caps are simply a money maker for ISPs

They are in the mode of having to show continuous profits so they figure out new ways to charge customers for stuff they have already paid for.

If I pay $29.95 a month for high speed Internet, I should not be worried about running out or going over some bs data cap.

There are a tiny minority of folks using extreme amounts of capacity. Instead of targeting high-volume users, the telcos and ISP are using them as an excuse to tier, cap and throttle the access of people away from competitively priced all-you-can-eat internet access.

[ejpoeta]

15. 29.99?? wow that's cheap!

[DisgustipatedinCA]

10. belligerent and wrong. typical combination

what is "extra" bandwidth? I pay for "unlimited bandwidth". I've been a network engineer for 15 years, and you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. None.

[Jokerman]

11. The chain stores drove the mom & pops out of here 20 years ago.

Then Blockbuster bought out most of the other chain stores. Redbox has hurt Blockbuster stores around here as much or more than Netflix.

Netflix offered a better selection and delivery system, it was customer choice that put the video stores out of business.

[ejpoeta]

12. no one is getting something for nothing. people pay good money for their internet. they are

getting screwed by internet and cable providers as much as satellite providers. We pay $50 just for internet. We were paying $100 for satellite. if we had cable we would have been paying at least $30 for that and not even getting the channels we wanted. Netflix didn't put anyone out of business. They might be hurting cable's business which is why they are using them as an excuse to stifle competition. You know, cable offers streaming to their customers. If I had cable I could stream their content over the internet too. Am I going to get charged for the data for that too?

The bandwidth is already there. they are just using this argument as a false excuse. Netflix and other streamers are hurting their bottom line and they don't like that. But this is about net neutrality. I believe tv in general is moving in the direction of the internet anyway. TVs are coming with internet streaming already available and a lot of people have ipads and such and watch tv right on their devices.

This is a money making scheme all the way. And a means to control the internet. Like the railroads. Whoever owned the railroads controlled the prices for those using the railroads and therefore could destroy their competition. The gatekeepers are making a play to do just that right now. And you are all for it.

[CBGLuthier]

13. So, in your world, I should have to deal with limited selection

late fees and everything else bad associated with video stores just because they are not LOCAL?

I got news for you. Blockbuster put the mom and pop video stores out of business. Netflix put Blockbuster out of business.

You can suck cable's you know what if you want to but no thanks.

[brewens]

8. I was on the verge of getting rid of DISH and going all internet

for my tv watching. That combined with dvd's burned courtesy of Netflix and trips to sportsbars would have kept me from missing DISH much. I would have saved about 70 bucks a month. Now the ability to do that for long is in doubt. It might just be a matter of time before my ISP starts charging for bandwidth.

It's like the first people that bought sattelite dishes. They had it made! They got everything and once they paid for the dish, no more cable bills! Yeah right. It was a constant war between scramblers and chip bootleggers.

In my town I knew a couple of the guys that got busted by the Feds. It went down like a drug bust and that was the end of it. No more chip upgrades. Most people that bought those dish setups never got their moneys worth. Maybe some that got in right at first but you could pay a lot of premium cable bills for what one of those dish setups cost.

There is just no way you get free tv forever and we probably shouldn't. I mentioned the dvd's I burn. I don't sell copies so I figure I'm only fudging a little. It's actually my girlfriend that will watch those repeatedly. I see a movie and it might be years later I'd like to watch it again. If that's piracy I say, "Yo Ho Ho!" I still will have paid retail prices for almost all of my music and video.

[Armstead]

9. This should be getting more attention

As the internet becomes more of a daily necessity it should be treated and regulated like a public utility to ensure access and affordability.

[999998th word]

16. Greedy cable companies will use any excuse to

charge more. They realize people,in this economy,could effectively ditch cable tv for the internet and they were losing money.
They just figured out a way to bleed more profit out of their product and also maybe ?control access? than you can ?control content?
This is the only source many of us have that will give us the real story.You cant trust the msm for the real news anymore.Just a theory.
I know I was planning to cut my cable-austerity necessitates I do something.