Netflix Admits Regrets After Aussie Launch

Netflix says it violated its own core beliefs.

If you're a Netflix Australia subscriber with Optus or iiNet, enjoy that unlimited streaming while you still can.

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When the streaming giant launched in Australia in March it gave customers from those two ISPs a special deal: Subscribers could stream as many shows as they wanted without it counting towards their monthly data limit.

Netflix now says that decision was a violation of their core beliefs.

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In an investor note during its global quarterly earnings report, Netflix said the deal wasn't consistent with their belief in net neutrality.

"Data caps inhibit Internet innovation and are bad for consumers. In Australia, we recently sought to protect our new members from data caps by participating in ISP programs that, while common in Australia, effectively condone discrimination among video services (some capped, some not)" the note said.

"We should have avoided that and will avoid it going forward. Fortunately, most fixed-line ISPs are raising or eliminating data caps in line with our belief that ISPs should provide great video for all services in a market and let consumers do the choosing."

What's net neutrality?

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Net neutrality, or the Open Internet, is the concept that all traffic and data online should be treated equally, regardless of which ISP a user is signed up to. Without it, ISPs would be able to charge users more for better internet speeds, essentially dividing the internet into fast and slow lanes.

It may also let ISPs give preference to certain websites, such as a site that the ISP itself owns or makes money from.

It's a big deal in the US where some lawmakers have been trying to allow internet providers to do just that.

Netflix is a big advocate of net neutrality.

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Before launching in Australia, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told Gizmodo Australia, “There’s no reason for data caps. We want to make the internet unmetered. Period. The capped model is antiquated: we want to make it about speed. 10Mbps will cost more than 1Mbps and 50Mbps will cost more than 10Mbps and that makes sense."

"Historically, there was so little content in Australia that many users went over the international links and those are pretty expensive, but now there’s more and more content and content caching in Australia.”

In its letter to investors, Netflix reaffirmed its commitment to net neutrality.

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"We support strong net neutrality across the globe, allowing all consumers to enjoy the Internet access they pay for, without ISPs blocking, throttling, or influencing content in the last mile or at interconnection points," the letter states.

BuzzFeed News understands that as Netflix expands globally, it plans to implement a consistent data policy worldwide.

So, Optus and iiNet customers, enjoy those free downloads while you can.