iiNet [Australia]: Popularity Of Zero-rated Netflix Costs us too Much

Few months ago the title was "iiNet [Australia] Offers Zero Rated Netflix" [here]. Was that a good idea?

David Ramli reports to The Sydney Morning Herald that "iiNet chief executive David Buckingham [pictured] says the massive popularity of internet services like Netflix means current broadband plans will not be sustainable under the national broadband network unless the company building it drastically slashes prices .. Internet service providers like Singtel-Optus and iiNet are not charging customers for the data used by Netflix as both a marketing tool and a way to prevent bill shock for users.

But the service consumes a huge amount of data because it offers constant streaming of high-definition videos to several devices simultaneously – an issue some claim would make it unaffordable under the NBN's current pricing arrangements.

..The main complaint for telcos is a fee charged by NBN called the connectivity virtual circuit charge (CVC), which costs $17.50 per 1 megabit per second. iiNet chief technology officer Mark Dioguardi in April warned that users could be forced to pay a "Netflix tax" of $26 a month extra for moderate HD streaming, and $60 a month for the ability to watch occasional 4K streams". 

 

See "Netflix popularity requires NBN price rethink, says iiNet boss David Buckingham" - here.

iiNet [Australia] Offers Zero Rated Netflix

While Net Neutrality is reborn in the US, and Zero-rated service plans gain traction in developing countries, iiNet has news to his customers in Australia: "Get Netflix quota-free on an iiNet Fixed Line Broadband or NBN Fibre plan" (here).

"Following confirmation from Netflix that it will launch locally on 24 March, iiNet’s broadband, Naked DSL, NBN and iiNet TV with Fetch customers (excludes all Satellite, NBN Wireless, Mobile Voice, Mobile Broadband and all Business customers) will have access to as much Netflix content as they like, without it counting against their monthly quota".
iiNet offers 100 GB to 1 TB DSL service plans for their "own netwrok" customers; "Both uploads and downloads count towards your monthly included data. There are no automatic excess usage charges on ADSL2+. Instead, traffic beyond the included data will be slowed to 256kbps/256kbps. You may purchase a Data Pack at an additional cost for a data top-up, if required". 

See "iiNet to flick on quota-free Netflix" - here.

iiNet: New Proposal for "Policing Copyright Infringement"

   

The public discussion over copyright infringements is not as intensive as it used to be (maybe because a larger percentage of the content is now viewed or downloaded legally), but from time to time we still see new ideas and initiatives. 

iiNet, Australia's second largest DSL ISP, published a paper suggesting that the policing of copyright infringements  will be done by a third party. Steve Dalby (picture), Chief Regulatory Officer, suggests a new model which is based on the "addition of an independent body, into the mix": 

1. A content owner will carry out their own detective work and identify an offending computer making unauthorised copies of their content available for sharing via (typically) bit-torrent software. This will provide them with an ‘IP Address’ that can be traced by the issuing ISP to a specific internet service.
2. The independent body will determine whether the evidence meets a test of ‘cogent and unequivocal evidence’.
3. IP addresses can be provided to an independent body who is able to identify the issuing ISP and ask that ISP for contact details for the service account holder. The ISP provides those matching contact details to the independent body.
4. Using those contact details the independent body can issue notices to the account holder informing them that they had been detected making unauthorised copies available, provide educative information, advise the consequences that may follow continued behaviour and ask the account holder to ensure that the behaviour stops.
5. The independent body keeps records of the notices and may modify the notice for a repeat infringer, or seek further sanctions. Some of those sanctions may include fines, court charges or changes to the internet service.
6. Consumers who believe the allegations are incorrect will be able to appeal the notice to the independent body. These appeals and/or complaints would be dealt with by the independent body.
7. Consumers who believe an insecure wireless access (or other technical issue) may be involved, will be referred, by the independent body, to their ISP for technical assistance.

See the complete document below, or here - and iiNet's press release - here.

Related posts:

• The French Internet Police: 100,000 Warring Emails have been Sent - here 
• Virgin Media - Throttles P2P but will not Inspect Content - here.