Joe Lane
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For the longest time, companies such as AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and others have had track records of frustrating customer service, and I am no stranger to such exchanges. But, and I can’t believe I’m going to say this, I am on the side of a major communications company for once.

Last week, massive communications companies AT&T and Verizon (who are, incidentally, rarely on the same side in any debate) expressed their anger at the popular streaming service Netflix, a perennial fan favorite. Netflix’s latest stunt has me siding — though admittedly very slightly — with these communications conglomerates.

Netflix announced last week that it has been slowing down service for customers streaming video on cellular networks provided by AT&T and Verizon. The company insists that its reasoning is in the best interest of its customers. Netflix argues, according to the *Washington Post*, that it slows down service over these cellular networks because if it didn’t, its customers would blow past their monthly data allotments quickly and would likely blame Netflix for their struggles. Subsequently, the company believes, this would lead to a decreased number of Netflix users.

I have struggled with blowing past my data limit only to run into the issue of using up my monthly data plan. However, when this happened, I never blamed Netflix. Furthermore, if I were to be upset at any entity besides myself, it would be the cell-phone company for charging such exorbitant rates for one extra gigabyte of data.

So why is this so frustrating if Netflix claims to be looking out for the customers’ best interest? Netflix finds itself in a difficult position right now because of its staunch support for Net neutrality. Put simply, Net neutrality prevents Internet Service Providers from raising the prices on high-speed Internet service; essentially making it more difficult for small Internet companies to grow because of slower loading times.

Netflix, Google, eBay, Twitter, and many other prominent Internet companies (big and small) sent a letter to the FCC in 2014, when Net neutrality was more of a hot-button topic, urging the FCC not to change the “free and open Internet.” The letter also stressed that these “rules … would enable phone and cable Internet-service providers to discriminate both technically and financially against Internet companies and to impose new tolls on them.”

Here’s where my opposition to Netflix on this matter becomes complicated. It is true that Netflix is looking out for the end consumer to some extent by protecting them from going over on data costs. But if Netflix wants a truly open Internet, as unfortunate as it may be, this means it has to go both ways. Netflix, in order to be ethically consistent, must advocate for a free and open Internet going in both directions.

I understand that the cable companies are only looking out for their best interests — just as Netflix is by limiting its exposure as a data drain — but they do have a point. So while Netflix slowing down service on cellular networks does not overtly make it Net-neutrality hypocrites, it does lead me to question the consistency of its principles.

All that being said, I’m still going to watch up to a dozen episodes of “The Office” on Netflix tonight alone.