Verizon Fails to Inform Netflix Users of Their Throttling "Test"

Net Neutrality is a rather hot topic currently, and rightfully so, as it is in danger now more than ever. It was revealed recently that Verizon Wireless had been throttling Netflix subscribers, an action internet subscribers can look forward to if Net Neutrality eventually fails. The worst part about the whole situation is that the company attempted to write it off as a simple speed test, all without informing the affected customers.

This news comes from Techdirt, who reported that, when pressed, Verizon was only willing to give a rather vague answer about how they were simply conducting “tests” that didn’t hurt anybody.

“We’ve been doing network testing over the past few days to optimize the performance of video applications on our network. The testing should be completed shortly. The customer video experience was not affected.”

Throttling refers to the lowering of maximum internet speed, so videos and services that require wi-fi won’t download or play as fast as normal. Instead, they buffer and run at worse video qualities as a result.

Verizon has been one of the largest opponents of Net Neutrality as they would, not surprisingly, benefit substantially both financially and control wise.

This controversy actually all came about when Reddit users were having trouble streaming Netflix. When tests were run, it was revealed that users were being restricted to 10 Mbps per second. On average, Verizon advertises a speed of 50 Mbps. While the drastic change was still more than enough to stream Netflix at 1080p60 and 1440p30, it was the fact that no one told their users that was the biggest issue.

This behavior has set a huge precedent for other companies to see just what they can get away with and how much they can push FCC regulations.

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