[PLUG-TALK] Another blow to Internet free design.

Rich Shepard rshepard at appl-ecosys.com
Mon Feb 24 14:02:52 UTC 2014


On Sun, 23 Feb 2014, Michael Rasmussen wrote:

> Now Comcast gets you to pay to receive and Netflix to pay to send and it
> must be great to be a monopoly middle man.

Michael,

   It seems to me that the solution to those who do not like the situation is
for them to not stream NetFlix content. It is likely that if a sufficient
number of folks decide to do this the middle man will re-think his policies
and business model.

   I believe that you work for a bank so you might recall when Wells Fargo
purchased Interstate Bank. As a cost-cutting move, Wells Fargo closed all
the small branhes in remote agricultural towns across the West and
consolidated them in St. Louis, Kansas City, or another mid-western city
where the decision-makers did not know the farmers. As a result, Wells Fargo
lost 1/3 of their agricultural customers and it took them four years to
realize that.

   Comcast is only taking the opportunity to capitalize (literally) on
customer demand. They are not forcing anyone to download Netflix content, it
is the buyer's choice. While this might conflict with 'Net neutrality ideals
it appears to be a business decision based on customer demand that can
change if enough customers decide to go elsewhere for entertainment.

   Now, if Comcast becomes the only pipe from the end user to the 'Net, and
everyone is forced to pay for Netflix content regardless of whether it's
desired, that becomes a totally different situation.

Rich




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