No, what is shows is that it was going to be more expensive for Netflix to buy market-rate transit through another provider than to peer directly with Comcast.

No, what is shows is that it was going to be more expensive for Netflix to buy market-rate transit through another provider than to peer directly with Comcast. (Or Netflix is playing the long game here and taking an unnecessary financial hit by peering with Comcast to put them in a favorable PR position, but I think that's less likely.) Cogent's thing is selling massively cut-rate transit. They've been involved in constant peering disputes over their method of doing so since at least 2002. This isn't new for them - Netflix is just big enough that people really took notice this time.