The Justice Department is examining whether cable companies are hampering competition from online video providers. Specifically, it is looking into Comcast’s data caps which limit the amount of data subscribers can download.
Comcast has set caps which impact how users view online video from services such as Netflix and Hulu. Moreover, it has favored its own Xfinity online video service by excluding its use from the caps.
This may violate a provision not to “unreasonably discriminate” against competitors agreed to in Comcast’s acquisition of NBCUniversal. Comcast has said Xfinity is treated differently because it uses a private network instead of the public Internet.
The investigation is additionally looking into whether requiring a cable subscription to view online video may be considered anticompetitive.
“The Justice Department also is investigating the contracts that programmers sign in order to be distributed on cable systems,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “Some contracts include so-called most-favored nation clauses, which make programmers give the biggest cable companies the best price they are offering anywhere, among other conditions. The Justice Department is questioning whether there are legitimate business reasons for such terms or whether they are intended to stop programmers from experimenting with other forms of online distribution.”
The Justice Department is examining whether cable companies are hampering competition from online video providers. Specifically, it is looking into Comcast’s data caps which limit the amount of data subscribers can download.
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