Tech: Level 3’s fight with Comcast over Netflix heats up, big time
- If the dispute were simply ‘commercial,’ the dispute would have already been settled or would never have arisen in the first place. Comcast’s status as the nation’s largest provider of consumer broadband service enables Comcast to force Level 3 to pay the ‘toll’ Comcast has demanded.
- A statement from Level 3 Communications • Complaining about Comcast’s plan to charge a toll for its handling of Netflix’s traffic – which effectively doubles the amount of bandwidth they’ll be sending to Comcast’s customers. As this could have the effect of hurting end-users by incurring more charges on them, Level 3 is right to push back here. This is a net neutrality fight that you should watch, because Comcast appears to be using their leverage as an internet provider to protect its cable business. This is bad. source