Netflix asks FCC to stop Comcast/TWC merger citing ‘serious public interest harm’

As it promised, Netflix has filed a petition to the FCC demanding that it deny the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner. The 256-age document claims that such a merger would result in “serious public interest harm,” and no discernible public interest — two red flag items for regulatory bodies. Netflix cited several examples of harm already inflicted on it by Comcast or Time Warner Cable. The most familiar one was to “shift Netflix traffic to paid interconnections,” in other words use network congestion as an excuse to push Netflix to paid “fast lanes.” It also argued that consumer data caps are another tactic that have been used to deter consumers from streaming companies like Netflix.

Netflix added that a merged cable giant would have huge leverage over it and rivals like Hulu. It said Comcast and TWC’s claims that there is enough competition in the market are disingenuous, since DSL offerings from AT&T and Verizon often have insufficient speed for Netflix streaming. It added that those companies offer their own streaming services (like paid video-on-demand), and thus have “incentives to interfere” with third-party companies like Netflix.

It also argued that it’s prohibitively expensive for consumers to switch broadband services, and that even if they wanted to, there are often zero alternatives — a situation that would worsen with a merger. Finally, it complained about the problem of “terminating networks,” or the point at which user data switches from one network to another, saying that providers can deliberately congest such routes to extract fees — and in fact, have no incentive not to.

There are many more arguments listed, and most of them are well known to the public. But Netflix’s legal challenge to the FCC is significant, since it (and its customers) may suffer the most from a merger. It has now joined the Dish Network in filing a formal brief along with numerous consumer groups.

Filed under: Networking, Internet

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Source: Netflix

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