The tensions around net neutrality appeared to run deep this week, when key tech and media players gathered on stage in San Francisco at the Code Conference, Buzzfeed reported. One battle had stood out in the conference, as the chiefs of Comcast and Netflix offered contrasting interpretations about net neutralty and each other's role in the near future.
The viral news site said Netflix, an iconic new media content company, and Comcast, the largest cable service provider in the country, are currently partners in a controversial deal that would ensure that Netflix gets smooth, continuous service for a fee. On the other hand, it was observed at the tech conference today that the companies are at odds over the open Internet principle.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who has been publicly vocal about its partner's planned acquisition of Time Warner cable, warned that the cable provider would be violating antitrust laws should the proposed merger will be allowed to push through. Hastings has reportedly argued that Comcast having one-third of the total number of broadband subscribers in the US could give the company unprecedented control over high-speed Internet access, which will open the possibility of being able to dictate prices for services like Netflix.
"It's a general way of taxing the internet. They want the whole internet to pay them for when their subscribers use the internet," he said on stage at the conference.
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, who had appeared at the conference the day before, defended the TWC deal, and insisted that it was not going to eliminate competition as the company is not considered a regional company.
"You can't buy a Comcast in New York, a Time Warner in Philadelphia. There's no reduction in competition in broadband," Hastings said.
In April, he also assured that the TWC merger is actually a leverage for the company against competition, saying in a letter to shareholders, "The combined company would possess even more anti-competitive leverage to charge arbitrary interconnection tolls for access to their customers."
