Ahad Aboss wrote:
Interesting point.
The truth is, the ISP is responsible for the quality of experience for their
end customers regardless of what content the customers consume or what time
they consume it. They pay a monthly subscription / access fee and that is
where it stops. ISPs can chose to blame Netflix until the cows come home or
alternatively, they can do something more constructive, like deploying a
cache solution or establishing direct peering with Netflix in one of the
POIs.
Well... if you make a phone call to a rural area, or a 3rd world
country, with a horrible system, is it your telco's responsibility to go
out there and fix it?
One might answer, "of course not." It's a legitimate position, and by
this argument, Netflix should be paying for bigger pipes.
Then again, I've often argued that the "universal service fund" used to
subsidize rural carriers - which the large telcos always scream about -
is legitimate, because when we pick up the phone and "dial," we're
paying for the ability to reach people, not just empty dial-tone. This
is also legitimate, and by this argument, Verizon should be paying to
improve service out to Netflix.
Either way, if one is a customer of both, one will end up paying for the
infrastructure - it's more about gorillas fighting, which bill it shows
up on, who ends up pocketing more of the profits, and how many negative
side-effects result.
Methinks all of the arguments and finger-pointing need to be recognized
as being mostly posturing for position.
Miles Fidelman
--
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is. .... Yogi Berra