I didn’t see this earlier today when reporting about the best and worst Internet Service Providers for Netflix speed, but only a few days after Verizon told Netflix to shut the f**k up and stop blaming Verizon for bad Netflix connections, Netflix has caved.
Last week, Netflix began throwing up messages to its subscribers when certain ISPs providd slow conections. They looked like this:
Verizon issued a cease-and-desist to Netflix, threatening them with a lawsuit if they continued to blame the ISP for the bad connection speed, and it appears as though Netflix is obliging. They’re phasing out the warnings by week’s end.
Netflix issued the following statement, backing off of their transparency campaign but still insisting that it’s the ISP’s fault: (via DailyTech):
Some broadband providers argue that our actions, and not theirs, are causing a degraded Netflix experience. Netflix does not purposely select congested routes. We pay some of the world’s largest transit networks to deliver Netflix video right to the front door of an ISP. Where the problem occurs is at that door — the interconnection point — when the broadband provider hasn’t provided enough capacity to accommodate the traffic their customer requested.
Some large US ISPs are erecting toll booths, providing sufficient capacity for services requested by their subscribers to flow through only when those services pay the toll. In this way, ISPs are double-dipping by getting both their subscribers and Internet content providers to pay for access to each other.
Given the fact that Verizon DSL is dead last among Netflix speeds, I very much doubt that this is the end of the war of words. It may continue for months and years to come.
Source: DailyTech
