This is why we can't have nice broadband

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

WARNING: contains graphic idiocy

I've just about managed to stuff all those gloopy spare bits of brain back into my skull, but it took a while. I blame Harold Ford Jr. and John Sununu, the ex-politicians now shilling for the ISP-backed Broadband for America, for blowing my mind. Their most recent op-ed, which takes shaky aim at Netflix, must be one of the dumbest such pieces I have ever read—and I have read a lot of them.

I would not absolutely swear that their Mercury News piece makes any coherent points, though vestigial traces of argument run through the post, going nowhere. The overriding idea is that Netflix must hand over wads of cash to Internet providers—$83 million a year being a nice round number.

Netflix didn't get where it is today by handing out $83 million checks to anyone who asks, but the argument—such as it is—says that we need a new payment scheme that's "socially responsible and fair." Translation: Netflix is a dirty freeloader that quite possibly reeks of marijuana smoke.

"The reality is that Netflix and similar services want a free ride on the networks built with more than $250 billion in design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and maintenance," says the op-ed, giving its angle away. That sweet Netflix cash needs to flow to the small cartel of broadband operators who aren't making any money are hugely profitable, so that they can keep building out their networks.

"But," I hear you asking, "doesn't Netflix somehow pay for its bandwidth already? And if not, how do I get a piece of that free Internet action?"

...

So what was the target of the op-ed? "Data transfer" is one of the top issues on the Broadband for American website, which describes the "challenge" before us as: "how can we best ensure ongoing investment in robust broadband networks, let networks continue to work out their traffic exchanges by contract, and permit any disputes to be resolved without involving the courts or the regulators?"

This is aimed at Level 3, the huge transit provider that more recently got into the content delivery business and now hosts much of Netflix's data. Last year, Level 3 and Comcast got into a nasty spat over peering arrangements. Comcast wanted Level 3 to start paying to deliver traffic, while Level 3 retorted that its Netflix traffic in particular had been requested by Comcast users and it was really doing Comcast a favor. The dispute then migrated to the FCC.

Comcast and its fellow ISPs want to charge more to content providers, and they don't want the government mucking about with these contracts. Separately, many would also like to lower data caps and institute overage charges under out of "fairness," but consumers have rebelled against low caps (higher caps have passed without too much resistance).

The op-ed seems like an effort to tie both of these ISP concerns to the "Red Menace" that is Netflix. Instead, it manages the impressive feat of making both ideas look just about bankrupt.

Unfortunately, Mercury News pulled the original op-ed, so I didn't get to read it, but they left the comments up.