Comcast Response to Netflix

Jennifer Khoury, Comcast senior vice president:

Netflix’s argument is a House of Cards.

High fives all around the Comcast PR department for that sick burn.

As at least one independent commentator has pointed out, it was not Comcast that was creating viewability issues for Netflix customers, it was Netflix’s commercial transit decisions that created these issues. No ISP in the country has been a stronger supporter of the Open Internet than Comcast – and we remain committed both to providing our customers with a free and open Internet and to supporting appropriate FCC rules to ensure that consumers’ access to the Internet is protected in a legally enforceable way.

As Peter Kafka translates, Comcast is arguing that Netflix sabotaged its own streams:

Now it’s out there, and it’s kind of amazing: If the accusation is true, it means that Netflix shortchanged some of its customers, for reasons that aren’t quite clear. If it’s not, it means that Comcast, which has to be on its best behavior as it tries to get the federal government to bless its Time Warner Cable deal, has made a damning charge in public that it can’t back up.

(I love too how the legal disclaimer at the end of Comcast’s blog post is three times longer than the post itself.)

★ Friday, 25 April 2014