Netflix takes on internet providers: the fight for the future of online media – The Verge

FCC might give Netflix what it wants and still allow Comcast to sell fast lanes

2014-10-31T16:39:25-04:00

A report published this afternoon by The New York Times details one of the possible plans the FCC may debut in their attempt to establish new rules around net neutrality and the open internet. It takes a "hybrid" approach, dividing the new regulations between commercial or wholesale internet traffic and retail or residential internet traffic. In a nutshell, this would mean content companies like Netflix will get the price controls they want when it comes to dealing with companies like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T. But those companies will also be allowed to give certain data a fast lane over their networks if it was "justified," cementing the …

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Internet traffic jams are widespread in the US, and are probably about to get a lot worse

2014-10-31T13:37:04-04:00

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Earlier this week the research consortium M-Lab released a big report on the way data moves through the guts of our internet infrastructure. It focused on interconnection points, the shared equipment nodes where different networks exchange data so that it can move around the world and into your home. What it showed was that business disputes - between transit ISPs like Cogent and Level, which carry data around the world, and access ISPs like Verizon and Comcast, which carry it the last mile to your home - were having a dramatic effect on the ability of many American consumers and businesses to access the internet, reducing the flow of data t …

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Apple reportedly paying internet providers to ensure speedy delivery of its data

2014-07-31T17:01:22-04:00

Apple has apparently turned on its new content-delivery network, and is reportedly paying Comcast and other big ISPs to move hardware into their data center and build direct interconnects to their networks. This is the exact same evolution that Netflix has been going through, building out its own CDN and agreeing to pay ISPs for interconnection. The major difference is that Netflix has loudly opposed the fact that ISPs can charge a fee for this arrangement, while Apple has stayed mum on the issue.

Content delivery networks (CDNs) are intended to speed up the delivery of data to customers by placing servers in locations around the country. T …

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Netflix is now also paying AT&T to improve streaming quality

2014-07-29T17:57:28-04:00

Netflix has signed another interconnection deal with another ISP: AT&T. The two sides have reached an agreement that should over time result in better streaming performance for Netflix subscribers. Terms of the deal aren't being disclosed, so we don't know how much Netflix paid for direct access to AT&T's network. But it's likely modeled after similar deals Netflix reached with Comcast and Verizon earlier in the year. Mashable first reported the new agreement between Netflix and AT&T.

Unbeknownst to customers, Netflix and AT&T actually came to an interconnection agreement back in May. But the company is only now "beginning to turn up the co …

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Verizon says Level 3 is looking to get a ‘free ride’ for its massive Netflix traffic

2014-07-21T11:35:53-04:00

There's a new volley in the war of words over the internet congestion that is hurting the performance of Netflix streaming video: Verizon published a blog post this morning pointing out that, back in 2005, Level 3 got into a dispute with fellow internet provider Cogent over an imbalance in the way they shared traffic. Level 3's position was that Cogent needed to find a way to balance that traffic or pay for the difference. Verizon argues that this is exactly the same dispute now playing out between itself and Level 3, except this time Level 3 is the one sending too much traffic and trying to avoid paying to correct the imbalance.

When a cus …

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How one man bypassed internet congestion and fixed his Netflix streaming

2014-07-18T15:31:41-04:00

Colin Nederkoorn, a startup CEO living in New York City, was unhappy with his Netflix service. He pays Verizon for FiOS service that promises 75Mbps down. But when he tried to stream video, it was a miserable experience, with buffering and low-definition pictures. So Nederkoorn decided to measure the speed of his connection. What he found was that when he was streaming Netflix he was getting speeds of just 375kbps, or 0.5 percent of what he was paying Verizon for.

To try to fix the problem, Nederkoorn began using a virtual private network, or VPN, which could essentially act as a virtual ISP that would route the traffic he requested from Ne …

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Did Verizon accidentally admit it’s slowing down Netflix traffic? Level 3 thinks so

2014-07-17T16:27:31-04:00

There has been a back-and-forth battle in recent weeks about what is causing the internet congestion that is degrading service to Netflix consumers. Last week Verizon published a blog post that offered the first real specifics in the debate, saying that it had studied the situation closely based on a customer in Los Angeles and found that there was plenty of capacity available at different points where Netflix could deliver traffic to its network. The congestion, Verizon said, was being caused by Netflix, which had made the decision to send all its data over a limited set of very crowded routes. Today, Level 3 - which helps carry that Netflix …

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Google, Netflix, and Facebook ask FCC to intervene in fight over internet ‘congestion’

2014-07-14T10:22:28-04:00

The Internet Association, a trade group composed of some of the biggest tech companies in the world, has filed comment with the FCC asking it to intervene in the conflict over payments being demanded by big ISPs. According to a report in The Hill, companies like Comcast and Verizon are charging Netflix and others for direct interconnection to their networks, a move which allows these companies to bypass congestion and avoid service issues like video buffering. The group wrote in its letter that "interconnection should not be used as a choke point to artificially slow traffic or extract unreasonable tolls."

This is the latest volley in a war …

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The war of words continues: Verizon says Netflix is the one causing internet congestion

2014-07-10T17:07:40-04:00

Verizon, in an ongoing and escalating war of words with Netflix, put up a blog post today arguing that the streaming television provider is the real cause of internet "congestion" that has created performance issues for its customers. Netflix had previously sent its customers messages blaming congestion on Verizon's network, messages it withdrew after a Verizon filed a cease and desist. And while many consumers have been siding with Netflix in blaming the big ISPs, the truth is that Netflix shares a big chunk of the blame.

The cost of moving data around the internet has actually gone down

Understanding the fight, which has consumed the entire …

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FCC scrutinizing Netflix speed issues on Comcast and Verizon

2014-06-13T13:18:47-04:00

After months of complaints by Netflix, the Federal Communications Commission is beginning to look into the streaming quality issues that Netflix subscribers have been seeing on Comcast and Verizon. Netflix has been in a heated and public battle with internet providers over network congestion that's supposedly slowing its service down, with both sides pinning responsibility on the other. "Consumers pay their ISP and they pay content providers like Hulu, Netflix, or Amazon. Then when they don't get good service they wonder what is going on," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler says in a statement. "I have experienced these problems myself and know how ex …

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