Netflix pushed back against remarks from Comcast Executive...
Netflix pushed back against remarks from Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen, who before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday (CD April 10 p1) said Netflix approached Comcast to form the paid peering agreement the two companies announced earlier this year.…
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Cohen said Netflix wanted to cut out the “middle man” and connect directly with Comcast’s Internet backbone, and called that relationship Netflix’s idea. “The key thing to understand is that we have been working with ISPs for more than two years to partner on Open Connect, our content delivery network,” a Netflix spokesman told us when asked about Cohen’s comments. “We do reach out to ISPs, but to partner with them at no cost to them or to us.” The hearing likely didn’t change the trajectory of the Comcast proposal to acquire Time Warner Cable, with approval likely still coming in early 2015, Paul Gallant of Guggenheim Partners told investors in a note following the hearing. “There were clearly more negative than positive comments, which should reinforce regulators’ instinct to examine this deal very closely,” Gallant said.