Net Neutrality Ruling Fallout, Netflix Warns Against Draconian ISP Action

As a result of the Net Neutrality Ruling, Netflix has issued a strong statement to fellow shareholders regarding any future draconian action that may be taken by ISPs.

In the shareholders letter, CEO Reed Hastings stated, “A domestic ISP now can legally impede the video streams that members request from Netflix, degrading the experience we jointly provide. The motivation could be to get Netflix to pay fees to stop this degradation. Were this draconian scenario to unfold with some ISP, we would vigorously protest and encourage our members to demand the open Internet they are paying their ISP to deliver.”

One would assume that the ISPs are well aware of the general public support for net neutrality and that providers would encounter extreme outrage as a result of any attempts to throttle speed or otherwise degrade the service. Hasting addresses this in his letter which is also signed by Netflix CFO David Wells.

Internet providers have offered very little by means of issuing new public statements about any future plans, other than their original statements, which followed the net neutrality ruling initiated by Verizon.

The shareholders letter also contains a 2013 fourth quarter earnings announcement of $1.18 billion.