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I’m definitely having a blond day.
JamesB – 11 hours ago »
I’m definitely having a blond day.
The case against Netflix is brought by the French Consumers Association. It charges them with illegal consumer contact terms.
Netflix reserves at any time the right to modify unilaterally its terms without informing its customers.
Netflix might, without informing its customers, add a commitment period.
“Netflix disclaims any liability or guarantee for the video quality on your screen”.
For any problem of this type, Netflix returns clients to the TV manufacturer or ISP distributor
Some clauses are only written in English and therefore incomprehensible for the non-bilingue consumer.
C.A. comments in Italics.
“Netflix disclaims any liability or guarantee for the video quality on your screen”.
For any problem of this type, Netflix returns clients to the TV manufacturer or ISP distributor.
The fact that a lot of the content and the T&C’s are in English I can understand, but not sure how they expect Netflix to take responsibility for the video quality one may receive considering the quality received by the user all depends on what bandwidth your ISP provides to your home.
Repassac – sorry, what I was confused about, and am still unclear about, is whether you think the consumer group’s suit is justified, and hope the govt will do something about the Netflix contract. Or whether you think the suit is unjustified, and hope the govt will support Netflix.
Not living in France, I don’t have a view either way as it doesn’t affect me, but I’d be interested to know if the suit is backed or opposed by the viewing public.
-gonzo- – 2 hours ago »
“Netflix disclaims any liability or guarantee for the video quality on your screen”.
For any problem of this type, Netflix returns clients to the TV manufacturer or ISP distributor.
The fact that a lot of the content and the T&C’s are in English I can understand, but not sure how they expect Netflix to take responsibility for the video quality one may receive considering the quality received by the user all depends on what bandwidth your ISP provides to your home.
This is the crux of the OTT problem, isn’t it? Netflix and Youtube between them are massively dominating bandwidth, and ISP’s are left struggling to provide for their customers’ other bandwidth requirements. The principle of net neutrality becomes just a way for Netflix and Google to get a cheap ride. All in a state of upheaval as the courts (in the US) scramble to decide how the net should be regulated. I’m not surprised if the French consumer group is worried about Netflix disclaiming any responsibility for quality. It’s just Netflix’s way of saying, direct to the viewer, hey, don’t blame us, blame your ISP.
-gonzo- – 3 hours ago »
“Netflix disclaims any liability or guarantee for the video quality on your screen”.
For any problem of this type, Netflix returns clients to the TV manufacturer or ISP distributor.
The fact that a lot of the content and the T&C’s are in English I can understand, but not sure how they expect Netflix to take responsibility for the video quality one may receive considering the quality received by the user all depends on what bandwidth your ISP provides to your home.
I understand your point re video quality, however to exclude it contractually means they could get away with very very low resolution.
I would expect all domestic contracts to be in an official language of that country. The point being is many would not understand what they are signing.
JamesB – 1 hour ago »
Repassac – sorry, what I was confused about, and am still unclear about, is whether you think the consumer group’s suit is justified, and hope the govt will do something about the Netflix contract. Or whether you think the suit is unjustified, and hope the govt will support Netflix.
Not living in France, I don’t have a view either way as it doesn’t affect me, but I’d be interested to know if the suit is backed or opposed by the viewing public.
I think it is well justified. The first point being the worst.
It is usual where conditions are likely to need modification then the consumer is given notice and a right to cancel.
JamesB – 1 hour ago »
-gonzo- – 2 hours ago »
“Netflix disclaims any liability or guarantee for the video quality on your screen”.
For any problem of this type, Netflix returns clients to the TV manufacturer or ISP distributor.
The fact that a lot of the content and the T&C’s are in English I can understand, but not sure how they expect Netflix to take responsibility for the video quality one may receive considering the quality received by the user all depends on what bandwidth your ISP provides to your home.
This is the crux of the OTT problem, isn’t it? Netflix and Youtube between them are massively dominating bandwidth, and ISP’s are left struggling to provide for their customers’ other bandwidth requirements. The principle of net neutrality becomes just a way for Netflix and Google to get a cheap ride. All in a state of upheaval as the courts (in the US) scramble to decide how the net should be regulated. I’m not surprised if the French consumer group is worried about Netflix disclaiming any responsibility for quality. It’s just Netflix’s way of saying, direct to the viewer, hey, don’t blame us, blame your ISP.
It is very much a matter of control.
Your mention of Google is also interesting in respect of what OS the ISP units run on. The Article I posted yesterday contained this quote that I have inserted extra text to clarify.
“Maxime Lombardini (M.D. of Free, a major ISP and Mobile operator) draws a parallel with the rise (Increase) of the boxes with the Google Android interface, which was adopted in France by SFR (Major ISP and Mobile operator) and Bouygues Télécom (Major ISP and Mobile operator) more recently.
This expansion threatens, according to her, questioning the control that previously had the French telecom operators on their boxes. (I.E. ISP’s could loose total control)”
Free have said their next ISP unit(s) will not be Android)
Ah. That is indeed interesting. I’d forgotten about the Google – Android – Youtube connection.
Correct me if I’m wrong but the French govt seems to take a more active regulatory rôle in telecoms matters than is the case in the US and UK? Treating net access more as a utility, like water or power, rather than just another commodity.
Remarkable that these control issues have come to the fore so rapidly. Only a few years ago it seemed the future for broadcasting would be to move online. Now that arena has become even more bitterly contested than the spectrum.
From Gigaom last July:
Quote:This weekend, the engineer in charge of making sure Netflix’s bits get to the end customer posted a picture of the streaming video provider’s French content delivery servers in advance of Netflix’s expected fall launch date for Europe. David Temkin, who is Netflix’s director of network architecture & strategy, and is in charge of its peering and Open Connect platform, also added an eye-popping stat: Netflix was coming to France with 1 Tbps of bandwidth, which is more capacity than some of the nation’s ISPs have.
Netflix has built the capacity to provide 1 Tbps of bandwidth in the Telehouse-owned Voltaire data center, where it can interconnect with several of France’s leading ISPs. The capacity it has is equivalent to the capacity needed by a medium-sized ISP that serves about 5 million end subscribers. It’s more than SFR and cable operator Numéricable each have, but not as much as Free, France’s second largest ISP.
[..]
We’ve covered a bit about how Netflix architects its Open Connect CDN service that it uses to directly serve traffic to ISPs if they elect to link up with a box or put one inside their network. Because Netflix streams can result in so much traffic, the company is trying to ease the burden of bringing it from its AWS servers right to the ISP’s door. Yet, still ISPs may have to upgrade their last mile networks to handle the massive influx high-Netflix demand can generate.
That and the potentially competitive nature of Netflix’s service for ISPs that also provide a video bundle is leading to friction between the service and ISPs in the U.S. Given how Free and other French ISPs have tended to react to YouTube and Cogent over peering disputes, I imagine Netflix will face similar fights in France later this fall.
Updated: This story was corrected on July 23 to reflect the fact that Netflix is providing its capacity as opposed to buying it.
https://gigaom.com/2014/07/22/netflix-comes-to-france-with-enough-capacity-to-supply-a-small-isp/
Most interesting JamesB.
Read in to this what you will, but there’s a Freesat survey being sent out and this is question 5.
-gonzo- – 29 minutes ago »
Read in to this what you will, but there’s a Freesat survey being sent out and this is question 5.
Interesting.
Here’s the link to the survey if anyone’s interested in taking it.
Done. Thanks.
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