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Too risky, no? If Comcast said the problem was not with their network, but with bit CDNs. Customers would shift their rage towards them instead. The whole thing
by JTon 12y ago
Too risky, no? If Comcast said the problem was not with their network, but with bit CDNs. Customers would shift their rage towards them instead. The whole thing would turn into a PR pissing match
- jonknee 12y agoI'm going to go with customers being mad with who they send a big check to every month (e.g. Comcast). 99% of people only know about their ISP, not their ISP's providers.
- Jtsummers 12y agoNot a big check, but they'd also be frustrated with Netflix/Hulu/Amazon Prime whom they also send money to each month (or year). The average customer wouldn't understand that it's the middleman causing problems, not one of the two endpoints (service provider or content provider).
- jonknee 12y agoI guess that depends on the number of participating Tier-1 providers that pull the plug, if enough did it would be very obvious it wasn't Netflix with the issue because everything would grind to a crawl.
- jimbokun 12y agoIf ABC has a blank channel, but you can still watch CBS and NBC and ESPN just fine, the average consumer will assume the problem is with ABC. If all the channels are blank, the average consumer will blame the cable company. Similarly, if "the Internet is down", from the customer's perspective, they're going to blame the ISP, not Netflix/Hulu/Amazon.
- Jtsummers 12y agoThat's if everyone particpates on a Comcast/TWC/Cox/etc. boycott. If my parents can get to Amazon Prime but not Netflix, they'll assume the issue is Netflix. (ok, maybe not my parents, but the idealized tech-unaware parent)
- hardoncollider 12y agoBut with such massive depeering as this, practically all of the internet would be affected, given the amount of traffic other peers would have to pick up.
- busterarm 12y agoNot true. I work for a cable/fiber ISP. Customers always blame the ISP. Even when the problem is the feed (like with CW's networks last month)...or when some dipshit construction company digs where they aren't supposed to. Luckily I don't work for one of the horrible ISPs that everyone hates, but we're definitely more in the blame-receiving business than is warranted. Folks don't understand the complexity involved in making a utility service "just work" and if the provider doesn't have hundreds of millions to invest in infrastructure (like my small provider doesn't have) it won't. The big ISPs have no excuse for not peering properly, but this is a fight they've been having with Level3 since the late 90s. Sadly they're winning.
- singlow 12y agoWhen the customers call you, it is because they blame you. You never hear from the ones who don't blame you.
- busterarm 12y agoThat's not entirely true, but the majority of them do.
- couchand 12y agoWait, did you just call broadband internet a "utility"? As in a Title II utility?
- busterarm 12y agoWe provide phone service as well/primarily.
- icebraining 12y agoWhat about the CDN's customers, ie., companies with sites that their costumers couldn't access?
- Spooky23 12y agoAsk your mom who her favorite CDN is.
- Nexxxeh 12y agoAkamai. Moms love Akamai.
- rhizome 12y agoI don't think it would go that way, their customers would more often say, "what's a CDN?"
- JTon 12y agoThey don't have to say CDN explicitly. They can simply say Netflix or Hulu. For example, "Dear valued customer. The recent slow down of your Netflix service is the result of an issue with Netflix servers. ISP_X service is fully functional. Please contact Netflix customer support for further assistance"
- yebyen 12y agoI'm pretty sure Netflix just paid Comcast, and maybe I'm not keeping up with the issues as they arise and I'm really uninformed about the current state of things, but if Level3 is still having a dispute with Comcast, and Comcast blames Level3's actions on Netflix just because they need to blame someone who their customers will recognize... Forget about the gigundous case for libel Netflix would have against Comcast on millions of counts... those Netflix payments that Comcast just earned are going to stop, and their first high-profile experiment with double-dipping payments will have failed abruptly. I assure you Comcast does not want that.
- pdonis 12y ago> I'm pretty sure Netflix just paid Comcast They most certainly did; and what's more, the transit provider Netflix was using prior to paying Comcast was, IIRC, Cogent, not Level3.
- yebyen 12y agoSo, then this whole idea that Level3 is the only one having problems with these five last-mile ISPs is bunk? Level3's wikipedia page still says they deliver Netflix. Now you're saying they don't even host Netflix. What are Level3's other major clients? I have to imagine there are bigger fish than Apple/iTunes (maybe I'm all wet), they are the only other major client mentioned on the wiki page.
- ryanhuff 12y agoComcast's customers have no idea what a CDN is. All they know is that the internet is slow, and Comcast is the internet to them.