Although Netflix has yet to launch a formal campaign against the Federal Communications Commission’s controversial net neutrality proposals, the company apparently has given the FCC an earful in a private meeting. Unnamed sources tell Reuters that “Netflix brought its concerns about Internet neutrality directly to U.S. regulators this week in meetings” with FCC staff members. Reuters‘ sources don’t give any details about what Netflix’s specific objections were but we do know that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings posted a message on his Facebook account recently that slammed “tolls coming for the web thanks to [the] FCC,” so it’s very likely that Netflix representatives talked a lot about the dangers of creating a two-tiered Internet.
News of Netflix’s FCC meeting comes after The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that while big tech firms such as Google, Netflix and Yahoo have kept their powder dry so far when it comes to the FCC’s new rules, “officials inside the companies who follow government policy say they are considering mobilizing a grass-roots campaign to rally public opinion around the idea that the Internet’s pipes should be equally open for all.” The FCC has already been taking heat from net neutrality advocates over its proposals to allow ISPs to charge extra money to create Internet “fast lanes” and it looks like it could soon be taking heat from big Internet companies as well.
