Broadband Internet caps have been an issue for many Internet users over the past few years, especially since companies such as Netflix and Hulu have become more popular with their offerings of thousands of streaming movies and TV shows. Now The Wall Street Journal reports, via unnamed sources, that the US Justice Department is conducting an antitrust investigation into these broadband caps.
The report claims that the government has spoken to cable companies such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable to find out more about their broadband cap policies. The report also claims that they have spoken to companies such as Netflix and Hulu, who might be adversely affected if such broadband caps restricted the amount of video their customers could receive from their services.
Cable TV companies that offer Internet access also have their own video services, including on-demand programming. However, Netflix and other companies have said that cable companies are worried that their customers might drop their cable TV portion of their business in order to just use their broadband services to stream video from other sources.
The report claims that the Justice Department investigation is taking a particular look at a decision made by Comcast earlier this year. Comcast subscribers who have an Xbox 360 console and stream video from Comcast's Xfinity app get a pass when it comes to Comcast's own broadband caps. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that such a move by Comcast violated federal laws that prevents Internet service providers from favoring some content over others.
Source: Wall Street Journal
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