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Netflix Agrees to Pay Comcast to End Web Traffic Jam

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Re: Netflix Agrees to Pay Comcast to End Web Traffic Jam

#261

Post by nitrogen »

vidarh wrote: post #236
nitrogen wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What they aren't prepared to do (for better or worse) is install larger circuits to Cogent so that Cogent's customers have unblocked access to Comcast's customers. That's totally backwards. Comcast's customers are paying for access to Cogent's customers, including Netflix.

That has never been how the internet works. You pay a part of the costs, the other party pay a part of the cost. When the other side opts for a cheap, poor quality connection (like Cogent), you suffer no matter how much you pay, and it's not your ISPs fault. It's not Comcasts responsibility if Cogent did not have peering arrangement or had paid for sufficient capacity to handle their end of the connection, that their…

It is Comcast's responsibility because I was paying them $1xx a month to take care of it. Bulk transit bandwidth is significantly cheaper than the price I was paying, so there's no justifying the claim that both sides have to pay.

Re: Netflix Agrees to Pay Comcast to End Web Traffic Jam

#262

Post by cdash »

ghshephard wrote: post #217

Unsaid among all this - Netflix could have simply paid a higher quality transit provider (Level 3) to provide them transit, and there wouldn't have been any problems (Level 3 maintains some headroom on their peering circuits). The reality is that it was likely cheaper for Netflix to just pay for peering with Comcast directly.

They have, and guess what? The same shit happened. Its almost like everywhere they go Comcast ends up doing this, kind of like they are specifically targeting Netflix.

Re: Netflix Agrees to Pay Comcast to End Web Traffic Jam

#263

Post by cdash »

cheald wrote: post #251
JohnTHaller wrote: post #102

Netflix and other streaming services should not engage in these types of contracts. They should instead detect slowdowns and notify customers of the slowdown and to call their provider to fix it, resulting in increased support costs, customer attrition, etc for the provider. Peering should remain a 50/50 split between the major peers. Just because Comcast and Verizon are sitting there refusing to turn the ports on un…

> Just because Comcast and Verizon are sitting there refusing to turn the ports on until you cough up $ (basically a hostage negotiation) doesn't mean you should. Would you please enlighten me as to why an ISP should be required to provide access to a resource they aren't being compensated for?

Because their customers are paying for it.

Re: Netflix Agrees to Pay Comcast to End Web Traffic Jam

#264

Post by smutticus »

cdash wrote: post #125
smutticus wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason Comcast would rather have Netflix pay than pass those costs to consumers is because they don't want to make net neutrality any more salient for consumers. If Netflix pays Comcast then it goes mostly unnoticed by the average person. If people have to start paying then the people screaming for net neutrality will start to scream louder, and Comcast really does not want that. It's not about competition with o…

Pass on the costs? Isn't this supposed to lower costs for Comcast even without getting paid by Netflix? If so you mean pass on the more profit they want.

You're right. There are no actual costs, and shame on me for adopting Comcast's language.

ISPs have the option of making content providers(Netflix), or content consumers(you and me) pay more. They're choosing content providers because they don't want to make net neutrality more salient for their customers.

Re: Netflix Agrees to Pay Comcast to End Web Traffic Jam

#265

Post by lawnchair_larry »

rayiner wrote: post #239
jonknee wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Netflix could have held out, and made Comcast out to be the bad guy, or could have leaned on Cogent to get the circuits installed - but, in this case, they folded and just decided to pay Comcast. How would that work? Comcast customers by and large can't switch to another broadband provider and Netflix customers can certainly switch to another video provider (Comcast!). It's not like this is a brand new issue, Netfl…

Almost nowhere does Comcast actually have a monopoly on broadband.

This is true if you have some antiquated definition of broadband that includes a competitor offering "up to" 896kbps while Comcast offers everything from 1 to 20+ mbps, but false for everybody else.

Re: Netflix Agrees to Pay Comcast to End Web Traffic Jam

#266

Post by jaggederest »

teddyh wrote: post #45
jaggederest wrote: post #4

Wow, Netflix has decided to negotiate with the terrorists? I'm pretty disappointed. Edit: Having read more of the non-paywalled version, I have to say I think they're shooting themselves in the foot, even if Comcast was offering a better price than Cogent. It sets a terrible precedent, and gives Comcast the leverage to bump the price extortionately at the end of the deal.

> negotiate with the terrorists? The term you should be looking for is “paying the danegeld”: That if once you have paid him the Danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane. — Dane Geld, Rudyard Kipling

I actually linked to that in a comment just before you posted this. Synchronicity :)

Re: Netflix Agrees to Pay Comcast to End Web Traffic Jam

#268

Post by lucb1e »

pushrax wrote: post #46
aleem wrote: post #21

Link without paywall: http://www.google.com/#q=Netflix+Agrees to+Pay+Comcast+to+End+Traffic+Jam&btnI

For purposes of easy clicking, here's the same link without the space: http://www.google.com/#q=Netflix+Agrees+to+Pay+Comcast+to+En...

Since when is it /#q= instead of /?q=? This doesn't work for people with noscript I think.

Re: Netflix Agrees to Pay Comcast to End Web Traffic Jam

#270

Post by the_ancient »

santosha wrote: post #164
gergles wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Comcast is a residential ISP. What possible traffic could there be to flow out of their network, other than requests for other data? By that logic, everyone has to pay to peer with Comcast because "Ha ha, we have all the customers. Darn, it sure is a shame that our customers don't have any data to send to you. Darn it, we really wish we could do free peering, but we just can't, aw, darn it. [cue South Park cable comp…

Neither Comcast nor Netflix are trying to operate a non-profit, it's a payment dispute between two large companies who disagree over who should pay. You could just as well argue that Netflix was letting Cogent / Comcast fight it out instead of directly peering with ISPs which benefits customers.

The Biggest problem here is, I as a Comcast customer have already paid Comcast to bring me the packets from Netflix... That is what my outrageous bill every month is for..

They will now be DOUBLE BILLING for the same packet, a cost that WILL BE passed along to the netflix customer.

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