Washington - As President Donald Trump takes
the Oval Office, one high-profile tech issue that many analysts are watching is
net neutrality. Republicans are widely expected to seek changes to the rules,
which as they stand currently bar Internet providers from slowing down websites
they don't like, or speeding up others in exchange for payment.
But one staunch backer of the rules isn't too worried
about the impending rollback, and that's Netflix.
In a shareholder letter Wednesday, the online video giant
said it's become so big that any changes to the net neutrality rules aren't
likely to affect its business much at all.
"Weakening of US net neutrality laws, should that
occur, is unlikely to materially affect our domestic margins or service quality
because we are now popular enough with consumers to keep our relationships with
ISPs stable," the company wrote.
Those relationships Netflix is referring to are with
companies such as Comcast and Verizon, whom you may remember have clashed with
the video company before over allegations or insinuations that the Internet
providers were slowing down Netflix streams. As part of the debate on net
neutrality, Netflix argued that it should not have to pay broadband providers
just so it could effectively deliver videos to customers' computers.
Ultimately, Netflix signed special, separate contracts with the carriers, the
terms of which were undisclosed. When federal regulators later approved the net
neutrality rules, it provided some additional assurance that the government
would be there to make sure future deals of that kind would be fair and
equitable.
The prospect of a net neutrality rollback, then, raises
questions about how Internet providers may treat Netflix in the future. While
it's unclear whether broadband companies would seek to take advantage of that,
Netflix's letter seems to anticipate those concerns - both by saying it
wouldn't be a big deal, and by signalling to the incoming Trump administration
that preserving net neutrality is still a worthy goal.
"We hope the new US administration and Congress will
recognize that keeping the network neutral drives job growth and
innovation," the letter reads.
Read also: Netflix soars as more viewers go online
Even though Netflix says it wouldn't be affected by a
weakening of net neutrality, consumer advocates say that the real point of the
policy is to protect those who cannot afford to protect themselves.
"It's understandable that people describe this as
Comcast versus Netflix," said Matt Wood, policy director of the consumer
group Free Press. But, he said, "We [are] concerned about the next
innovative company that doesn't have the ability to buy itself out of
trouble."
The rules, he added, are also meant to keep consumers in control
of where they can and can't go on the Web, rather than leaving it up to big
companies.