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It's more likely to save the Internet by forcing infrastructure upgrades rather than letting things stagnate forever with the justification that only pirate nee

It's more likely to save the Internet by forcing infrastructure upgrades rather than letting things stagnate forever with the justification that only pirate need more bandwidth.

mattmaroon 16y ago
So in your opinion cable companies (and phone companies that are now also offering competing television services) will upgrade their internet offerings so you can better enjoy Netflix, a service that makes their primary offering less valuable? It's pretty clear from the incentive structure here that it's going to have the exact opposite effect of what you suggested. It's going to make them institute bandwidth caps and/or hike prices.
- cullenking 16y ago
  Cable companies will probably start first by caching items regionally, and using that regional cache. They already do this on some level, but I don't think on the 4gb movie level. I agree though - they will be competing directly against companies like netflix. Maybe they'll come out with their own franchised netflix style streaming system?
  - wmf 16y ago
    It's called TV Anywhere.
  - mhb 16y ago
    Maybe Netflix will partner with Google to use some of its local storage.
- sabat 16y ago
  Then some entity somewhere will decide to get off its ass and offer internet service the way PG&E supplies power -- with no conditions. If you're an ISP then you have no business competing with other internet services; it's time to spin off a new company.
  - mattmaroon 16y ago
    I don't disagree with that in principle, but I'm confident it won't happen in the US. (I don't know enough about Canada to have an opinion.) Cable companies and telcos won't willingly give up their internet business, especially since a spun off ISP with large amounts of bandwidth to their customers' homes could trivially compete with them. They have a lot of lobbying power and they'll use it to fight that. Whenever you're dealing with infrastructure like roads or utility lines, progress moves at the speed of half-frozen molasses even when the existing stakeholders are on board, and it takes very little for them to halt it entirely. Instead what they'll likely do is find ways to align their interests with Netflix's. They'll institute bandwidth caps as a first measure. Then they'll perhaps sell you the Netflix service with bandwidth for some monthly fee that gives them both a cut.
    - sabat 16y ago
      The less optimistic part of me agrees with you but hopes that in the future this will somehow turn out to be wrong.
      - mattmaroon 16y ago
        Yeah I hope so too, in fact I often find myself thinking something is true and hoping I'm wrong. But as a betting man, when it comes to the intersection of government and enterprise you have to give me pretty good odds for me to wager on the side of the consumer. The good news is, in 5-10 years wireless internet will bring to ISPs the sort of competition that satellite TV has brought to cable I think.
- okaramian 16y ago
  That's fine, can we take back whatever government subsidies they've received as a result of this potential outcome?
- ascuttlefish 16y ago
  You're correct. In Canada, Rogers appears to have lowered its bandwidth caps in anticipation of Netflix's entry into the Canadian Market: http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Rogers-Lowers-Caps-Even-Further-109508 http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Rogers-Lowers-Caps-Even-F...

It's more likely to save the Internet by forcing infrastructure upgrades rather than letting things stagnate forever with the justification that only pirate need more bandwidth.

mattmaroon 16y ago

So in your opinion cable companies (and phone companies that are now also offering competing television services) will upgrade their internet offerings so you can better enjoy Netflix, a service that makes their primary offering less valuable? It's pretty clear from the incentive structure here that it's going to have the exact opposite effect of what you suggested. It's going to make them institute bandwidth caps and/or hike prices.

cullenking 16y ago
Cable companies will probably start first by caching items regionally, and using that regional cache. They already do this on some level, but I don't think on the 4gb movie level. I agree though - they will be competing directly against companies like netflix. Maybe they'll come out with their own franchised netflix style streaming system?
- wmf 16y ago
  It's called TV Anywhere.
- mhb 16y ago
  Maybe Netflix will partner with Google to use some of its local storage.
sabat 16y ago
Then some entity somewhere will decide to get off its ass and offer internet service the way PG&E supplies power -- with no conditions. If you're an ISP then you have no business competing with other internet services; it's time to spin off a new company.
- mattmaroon 16y ago
  I don't disagree with that in principle, but I'm confident it won't happen in the US. (I don't know enough about Canada to have an opinion.) Cable companies and telcos won't willingly give up their internet business, especially since a spun off ISP with large amounts of bandwidth to their customers' homes could trivially compete with them. They have a lot of lobbying power and they'll use it to fight that. Whenever you're dealing with infrastructure like roads or utility lines, progress moves at the speed of half-frozen molasses even when the existing stakeholders are on board, and it takes very little for them to halt it entirely. Instead what they'll likely do is find ways to align their interests with Netflix's. They'll institute bandwidth caps as a first measure. Then they'll perhaps sell you the Netflix service with bandwidth for some monthly fee that gives them both a cut.
  - sabat 16y ago
    The less optimistic part of me agrees with you but hopes that in the future this will somehow turn out to be wrong.
    - mattmaroon 16y ago
      Yeah I hope so too, in fact I often find myself thinking something is true and hoping I'm wrong. But as a betting man, when it comes to the intersection of government and enterprise you have to give me pretty good odds for me to wager on the side of the consumer. The good news is, in 5-10 years wireless internet will bring to ISPs the sort of competition that satellite TV has brought to cable I think.
okaramian 16y ago
That's fine, can we take back whatever government subsidies they've received as a result of this potential outcome?
ascuttlefish 16y ago
You're correct. In Canada, Rogers appears to have lowered its bandwidth caps in anticipation of Netflix's entry into the Canadian Market: http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Rogers-Lowers-Caps-Even-Further-109508 http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Rogers-Lowers-Caps-Even-F...