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lakanenMar 16, 2011
How is this a hot story with only one digg?
bugpowder2Mar 16, 2011
Don't ask questions. It'll only get you in trouble
darthmeatloafMar 17, 2011
Read the fine print.
Hot Stories are picked by Digg staff. Click the 'learn more' link to educate yourself.
chivesguyMar 16, 2011
This is hot! BURRNNNN
dcjoedogv2Mar 16, 2011
the only thing that will make me stop paying for netflix is unlimited internet being killed off. Plain and simple.
mbraynardMar 16, 2011
Explain.
darthmeatloafMar 17, 2011
AT&T is about to implement a download limit for both DSL and UVerse on May 2nd.
mbraynardMar 18, 2011
Ah. Ok. On Comcast here. I think we have a soft limit somewhere but despite DL'ing gigs of media each month I haven't noticed it.
I have as backup mobile ATT internet that is also unlimited.
No idea why people would bury my question. Jeez.
darthmeatloafMar 18, 2011
Your question likely got buried for two reasons:
It was a single word
People around here expect everyone to know everything that is going on or, if not everything, at least everything about the subject at hand.
Interesting place, this 'Digg'...
mbraynardMar 18, 2011
Oh yeah, you mean the company that provides internet services in your part of the country in the United States, where I may not even be, changed it's usage policy?
OF COURSE IM AWARE OF IT!!
xyrxMar 16, 2011
I've already lost unlimited internet, and I've had to monitor my usage... as twice now, I've been well over the limit. Streaming Netflix in my household is huge.
norman619Mar 17, 2011
So you have identified the weakness in Netflix's business model.
darthmeatloafMar 17, 2011
Here's the fun part, though:
Netflix, by adding original content, is effectively turning themselves into a television provider. That means that the badwidth caps on some internet providers can be seen as something that stifles competition - illegal.
Basically, by adding original content, Netflix will either create a situation where bandwidth caps are deemed illegal because they stifle competition, or Netflix streaming traffic will have to be counted separately from any given user's bandwidth usage and will not be allowed to be counted against their cap.
mpoulinMar 17, 2011
I hope that you are correct about this.
darthmeatloafMar 17, 2011
Me too. I know, from experience working for a cable provider, that my argument is sound.
Sadly, though, it will come down to who has the better legal team...
norman619Mar 16, 2011
I stopped paying for Netflix cuz they ran out of movies I haven't seen.
nowherekido3Mar 17, 2011
really? you must have no life outside your parents basement
neosporinMar 16, 2011
In Canada, a lot of us have lost our unlimited internet because the telecom companies that control our market (Bell, Rogers, Shaw, and Telus) all have imposed monthly bandwidth limits. For example, you get 60GB per month, and then pay $2 per GB you exceed the cap. It's extremely easy to go over the cap, and most months we do.
This has become a big problem in Canada, and it has turned the issue into an election point.
You may not be worried about it now, but AT&T recently began imposing the same limitations on it's customers in the US. It's only a matter of time before dated telecom policy and vertically integrated companies allow the internet to become a corporate mess.
mbraynardMar 18, 2011
How to you surpass you 60 GB limit?
And how do you figure you have a legal right to an unlimited internet connection?
Do you want to apply this to other commodities? Like a flat rate for all you can eat at McDonalds? Or for the customers of the business that you work for?Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
neosporinMar 18, 2011
How can you compare bandwidth, which is not a consumable product, to something like food? It's a series of electrical signals.
A legal right? I know I shouldn't be getting charged $5 for something that costs the provider less than a cent. It's more a moral right.
The thing is, it's not even about that. It's about keeping their cable television subscribers by forcing customers to worry about things like watching Netflix. When they're worried about bandwidth, they can go to the providers' on-demand service, cable service, IPTV service (which uses the same lines, but isn't charged UBB), or go outside and rent the movie from a rental shop... WHICH THEY OWN.
Bell and Rogers are the two biggest companies in Canada, they make billions upon billions in profit every year because they operate in an unregulated market. It's the same situation that Enron created in California 10 years ago.
It's obviously an underlying structural problem that has done little to force competition. Considering the regulatory body, the CRTC (FCC equivalent) is primarily made up of former and future Bell and Rogers employees, you can see where there are countless conflicts of interest here.
goweigusMar 17, 2011
who has unlimited internet?
darthmeatloafMar 17, 2011
I do. For now...
goweigusMar 17, 2011
who is your service provider?
darthmeatloafMar 17, 2011
Time Warner.
dcjoedogv2Mar 22, 2011
BrightHouse also still has unlimited
firefox15Mar 16, 2011
"Netflix Begins Its assault"? That's like saying Baghdad "began their assault" on the US after we bombed them to pieces. Simply put, the cable industry controls the Internet pipes. As we have seen with Comcast's and now AT&T's data caps, unlimited data and net neutrality is coming to an end. Netflix has no real leverage here.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
norman619Mar 16, 2011
How has cable assaulted Netflix? Your analogy failed.
firefox15Mar 16, 2011
The people who control cable control the Internet pipes. Just a few months ago Level 3 decided Netflix wasn't paying enough. Internet caps are going to force Netflix to re-think its push to all online streaming. I'm not sure how this is such a difficult concept to grasp.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/11/30/technology/netflix_level3_comcast_traffic/index.htm
neosporinMar 16, 2011
Telecom companies limit monthly bandwidth and force these usage based costs to combat their digital entertainment competition. It is currently a big issue in Canada, with the government and regulators fighting over whether these vertically integrated communications companies are working on the behest of their own profits or trying to manage network congestion.
Telecoms are doing this because they're losing their television and on-demand subscribers to services like Netflix.
Cable companies have assaulted Netflix in a number of ways.
norman619Mar 17, 2011
Since I manage a network I know this is not an assault on Netflix. It's called maintaining the network and trying to maintain a quality of service.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
darthmeatloafMar 17, 2011
Do you manage a content-delivery network for a telecom company or do you manage a non-telecom corporate network?
firefox15Mar 18, 2011
What a joke. Take a look at AT&T's latest data caps. Notice that their U-Verse content will NOT be subjected to said data caps. And you can get off your high IT horse. I hold many IT certifications and run networks myself. No one cares.
ascadianMar 17, 2011
Our wallets have leverage, I canceled cable 4 years ago.
agmlauncherMar 16, 2011
Exclusive original series is too risky. Far too many networks try this. For every hit, there are a dozen misses. What netflix needs is its own delivery system so that Kable Kompanies like KomKast can't suddenly decide to charge Netflix millions of dollars in bandwidth usage costs (or put restrictive bandwidth caps on their subscribers).
Schweppesale2Mar 16, 2011
http://www.ehow.com/how_4616715_become-broadband-isp.html
sound simple enough? lol
norman619Mar 16, 2011
So you are saying they need to become an ISP? Good luck with that.
netshark86Mar 16, 2011
Nooooo.
Keep your $8/month plan and you will win in time... follow Sirius and XM and you lose.
stewartwflillMar 16, 2011
As long as blockbuster loses I'm happy.
duke_nateMar 16, 2011
Firefly Season 2, Exclusively on Netflix.
zero123Mar 17, 2011
do it!
missinglinkMar 17, 2011
100 Cable TV channels - all showing the same reality TV crap.
I'd trade all 100 for 1 channel with good content.
darthmeatloafMar 17, 2011
It's not even a channel - it's a new category of streaming content that will update content weekly.
aahpandasrunMar 17, 2011
Netflix instant is great, but they're reached a plateau in the past year. There's a lot of very popular movies that are still DVD only. They need to spend more money on getting everything on there, including full seasons of TV shows which is definitely needed.
shoelessschippaMar 17, 2011
I haven't had a problem with their TV shows for streaming, but you are right, they have crap for movies for live streaming. In my case, If i want to watch it...they don't have it streaming.
triplethemarketMar 17, 2011
$NFLX Netflix comes one step closer to world domination.
StonnaMar 17, 2011
Netflix + NFL network
scarredupMar 17, 2011
Its generally agreed on that bandwidth caps are a bad thing unless you're getting checks from the cable companies.
dmm219Mar 18, 2011
bad move...as long as cable companies own the pipes...they have the trump card...
jabariabramsonMar 19, 2011
Netflix whooped Blockbuster's ass, they are going to "Google" the internet television industry. Get in while it's hot folks.