Netflix's Reed Hastings Chastises Comcast Over Net Neutrality And Its Shady Xfinity App

Reed Hastings, CEO and founder of Netflix, and memers of the international press attend a party to celebrate the launch of Netflix at MIDE - Museo Interactive de Economia in Mexico on September 12, 2011 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Elizabeth Fuentes/Getty Images for Netflix)

TechCrunch:

In the latest battle in the war for living room domination, Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings took to his public Facebook account and called out Comcast’s latest attack on Net Neutrality.

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Comments

[humaneisfact]

01:57 PM on 04/16/2012

I had comcast internet up until i moved 6 months ago.I didnt have data limits?Does this practice just apply to mobile devices?If so..well...get a pc.Id rather watch movies and do whatever on a pc than a small mobile device.Am I missing something here?

[Azterix]

03:28 PM on 04/16/2012

You've subscribed to a premium service, perhaps.

[thinkb4uleapII]

12:57 PM on 04/16/2012

I recently read an interesting report entitled: "Corruption Is Responsible for 80% of Your Cell Phone Bill" (Google it -- it's a good read)

The same applies for Cable/Internet service. The major telecoms, Verizon and AT&T primarily, are essentially engaged in a collusive monopoly of the industry to ensure their dominance and profit share. This collusion is aided by compliant regulatory agencies and preferential legislative support. The telecoms lobbying dollars corrupt the process and ensures any challenge to their dominance is squelched before a foothold challenge can even be established. (See Lightsquared and M2Z Networks for examples).

This is SOP in this and other industries and nothing will change until there is massive and sustained grassroots pressure to modify the process. The corporate-owned media (BTW, Comcast owns NBC/Universal and is one of the largest media conglomerates) can not be counted on to shed light on the subject.

I for one have dropped Comcast and will never knowingly spend another dime on any of their services if I can help it. I'm also researching my options with respect to AT&T and Verizon. Maybe a "Move Your Cable" movement akin to the "Move Your Money" banking sector protest could provide some leverage.

[zlohcuc]

12:10 PM on 04/16/2012

Logical progression for Comcast...once their physical and franchise monopoly was finally compromised by real competition it was only natural for them to see how they could squeeze people in other areas they have been dominant. They will never stop seeking competitive advantage regardless of the implications competitors,partners or customers."benevolent" is not a word you would use to characterize this group.

[TerrinaKnewon]

11:40 AM on 04/16/2012

Hey Reed must have read the article of the 10 most damaged brands.
Netflix was on the list

[J-Ho]

10:29 AM on 04/16/2012

Greedy? Netflix got greedy? When the rights to stream programming increased tenfold when renewal was due greed? They had to increase fees if they wanted to keep a good chunk of their streaming catalog.

If you don't like their online selection, that's fair, and an opinion. Children's shows alone are well worth $9/month, easily. But to say they were greedy when expenses skyrocketed and increasing fees was needed to stay in business...

[chaucer1]

10:07 AM on 04/16/2012

Comcast has a monopoly and behaves that way, always raising rates/reducing service.

[lexsird]

10:03 AM on 04/16/2012

Yes, yes, NetFlix lost your business because blah blah blah. Get over your pathetic self, we don't care and this article isn't about that. If you would RTFA, you might be able to formulate a thought worth posting.

ComCast, villain of the American Internet. Their shady underhanded practices are notorious in IT circles. If they come creeping around your community wanting in, drive them off like the lepers they are.

[gdatomic]

09:49 AM on 04/16/2012

I don't know what to think about this new bill. But this statement again makes it clear companies are taking sides for their own wealth interests -- not because of any interest in what's best for society.

[Robert Masters]

11:24 AM on 04/16/2012

Why are you people so naive as to think that anyone else would act differently from how you act? You act in your own self interest. Why wouldn't everyone else?

[vandegrasse]

11:35 AM on 04/16/2012

I don't like you!

[gdatomic]

05:57 PM on 04/17/2012

I wouldn't expect any different. But there's a naiveté on the 'net neutrality' side that presumes (a) net neutrality is an absolute good and (b) the companies who promote it are doing so just to be good people.

Truth is, Net Neutrality is being promoted by big money so the big money can make more. And so is the other side. Congress's question is: What's best for the company in the long term?

[Fizzbin]

09:40 AM on 04/16/2012

Like most dodo industries, Comcast is doing all it can to hold on to it's monopoly power in the face of withering competition.

[GlenRastell]

09:36 AM on 04/16/2012

Netflix lost my business not because of prices but because they never have anything new worth watching. It also doesn't help that 99% of what comes out of Hollywood these days is garbage.

[Demidan]

09:31 AM on 04/16/2012

Maybe, just maybe if you hadn't treated your customers like chattel NetFlix would be doing better. Just an idea there.

[RichardinJax]

09:52 AM on 04/16/2012

Did you read the article before you went into attack mode? It is not about NetFlix..its about disparate treatment of the consumer of Comcast bandwidth.

[Gloriousbastrd]

09:20 AM on 04/16/2012

Netflix lost my business long time ago cause they are greedy.

[JavaSavant]

02:17 PM on 04/17/2012

How are they greedy? Their cost of licensing content grew, so their pricing grew. The only stupid thing they did was try to split off DVD from streaming into a separate company.

[Gloriousbastrd]

02:53 PM on 04/17/2012

You answered your own question

When they split the DVD and Streaming they doubled the price. Plus all the movies are old and if you want to see something new or even had good rating you have to pay even more.

[lightningbolt]

08:17 AM on 04/16/2012

Boycott all enemies of net neutrality.

[Marcin A Mazurek]

07:47 AM on 04/16/2012

Dude a month and a half or so ago you were for Taking privacy away from people on the internet.

Shut up.

[PitBullWoman]

05:24 AM on 04/16/2012

I like Netflix. They provide a great service at a reasonable price. Comcast, however, is horrible. Terrible service, exorbitant prices, rotten politics... I'm just about to buy my own cable modem so that I can give them back there crappy one that they're charging me $10 a month to use. I must have bought that piece of junk 5 or 6 times over by now... Just a delay tactic though. I'm jumping ship to satellite internet as soon as I can.

[lexsird]

10:05 AM on 04/16/2012

Better yet, find an alternative and never give them another thin dime.

[PitBullWoman]

03:24 PM on 04/16/2012

That's what my last line refers too.