Subscribe
Netflix and consumer groups like Free Press are unimpressed with Comcast’s announcement they plan to experiment with an increased usage cap in some markets and temporarily eliminating it in others.
A Netflix spokesperson issued a statement that says the company has dodged the real issue: discrimination against its traffic, which counts towards whatever Comcast usage cap the company eventually settles on, and doesn’t count towards Xfinity TV, which the cable company owns.
“Increasing the data cap is a small step in the right direction, but unfortunately Comcast continues to treat its own Internet delivered video different under the cap than other Internet delivered video,” says the Netflix statement. “We continue to stand by the principle that ISPs should treat all providers of video services equally.”
Free Press and Stop the Cap! share the belief the company’s usage caps are arbitrary and unnecessary and should be eliminated completely.
“Comcast has never had any legitimate reason to cap its Internet customers, and today’s announcement of new overage charges is just another example of the cable giant’s efforts to discriminate against and thwart online video competition,” said Free Press policy adviser Joel Kelsey. “Data caps are not a reasonable or effective way to manage capacity problems, which are virtually non-existent for Comcast.”
Kelsey also believes Comcast is still trying an end run around Net Neutrality.
“While the move to increase its caps is overdue, the notion that Comcast would charge an exorbitant rate for additional bandwidth — while continuing to exempt its own traffic under its Xbox deal — illustrates that Comcast is really trying to discourage subscribers from experimenting with online video alternatives,” Kelsey said. “We call on Comcast to drop the caps and these exorbitant overage fees entirely.”
Other stories of interest:
- Netflix’s Reed Hastings Discovers Comcast’s Usage Cap: The End Run Around Net Neutrality
- New Evidence Suggests Comcast Prioritizing Its Own Streamed Content; Usage Cap Must Go
- Netflix to Broadband Industry: Please Don’t Kill Us With Usage Caps
- Comcast Proves It Doesn’t Need a 250GB Usage Cap; Net Neutrality Violation Alleged
- Comcast Changes Language Over Xbox-Usage Cap Spat: Same Story, Different Words
Of course they have a good reason for usage caps. A usage cap is nothing more than a huge price increase for broadband service. So Crapcast gets to charge more for the same terrible level of service. Their investors love it.
Usage caps are also a great way to limit fair and open competition. Crapcast doesn’t want their customers watching movies on Netflix. Crapcast would rather people watch movies via Crapcast pay per view or streaming services.
So lets review. Usage caps are nothing more than a price increase and a great way for an ISP to hurt their competition. It is a win, win situation for Crapcast. Also since the large ISP’s have Congress in their back pocket there is no way the government will step in and regulate this.