Netflix CEO Reed Hastings in 2012 accused Comcast of "no longer following net neutrality principles" by exempting its own online video service from data caps. "Comcast should apply caps equally, or not at all," Hastings argued.

But now Netflix has a chance to benefit from such differential treatment, and it's not turning the opportunity down. Netflix is launching its streaming video service in Australia on March 24, and its content will not count against data caps enforced by iiNet, a large Internet service provider there.

Customers "will have access to as much Netflix content as they like, without it counting against their monthly quota," iiNet announced yesterday.

“Working with iiNet to offer quota-free Netflix content gives more people the opportunity to familiarize themselves with who we are and what our service offers,” Netflix Director of Business Development Paul Perryman said in the announcement.

iiNet "has a 100GB cap for its cheapest broadband plans and charges customers who exceed that quota $0.60 AUS (about $0.47) per additional gigabyte," GigaOm reported. "The company also has 300GB, 600GB, and 1TB plans."

Writing for TechDirt, Karl Bode noted that Netflix isn't the first video streamer to strike a deal like this in Australia. Still, he called it "odd to see Netflix—a hugely vocal net neutrality supporter—suddenly go mute on a subject that's so near and dear to its heart."

When contacted by Ars, Netflix did not say whether it is paying for the data cap exemption.

"We are strong advocates for net neutrality and don't believe data caps are good for consumers and the Internet generally," a Netflix spokesperson told Ars. "That said, such arrangements are common in Australia and we won't put our new members at a disadvantage to those of rival services."

Netflix, which accounts for about a third of all downstream Internet traffic in North America during peak viewing hours, lobbied heavily for net neutrality rules in the US, even arguing that the rules should go farther than what was ultimately passed by the Federal Communications Commission last week. Netflix asked the FCC to outlaw interconnection payments, which Netflix makes to Comcast and other ISPs in order to directly connect to their networks. The FCC did not ban such payments, but it will allow Netflix and other companies to file complaints when they feel that specific deals are too expensive.

Netflix also lobbied the FCC to treat Internet providers as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act, and the FCC ultimately agreed.

But strangely, one Netflix executive today reportedly said that Netflix wished the FCC hadn't used Title II.

“Were we pleased it pushed to Title II? Probably not,” Netflix Chief Financial Officer David Wells said at an investor conference, according to Variety. "We were hoping there would be a non-regulated solution.”

That stands in contrast to a Netflix filing in July 2014 that argues in favor of Title II. "Title II provides a solid basis to adopt prohibitions on blocking and unreasonable discrimination by ISPs," Netflix argued at the time. "Opposition to Title II is largely political, not legal."

Despite what Wells reportedly said, a Netflix spokesperson told Ars today that the company's position in favor of Title II has not changed. "Netflix supports the FCC's action last week to adopt Title II in ensuring consumers get the Internet they paid for without interference by ISPs," the company told Ars. "There has been zero change in our very well-documented position in support of strong net neutrality rules."

The FCC's net neutrality rules do not outlaw data cap exemptions, but the FCC could hear complaints on a case-by-case basis to determine whether specific deals harm consumers or competitors.

UPDATE: Rudolf van der Berg, an economist and policy analyst for OECD (and author of "How the ‘Net works: an introduction to peering and transit"), told us that Australian Internet providers traditionally have data caps because of the high cost of transit compared to other countries. Content delivered to ISPs through peering connections is generally exempt from caps, and it appears that Netflix is peering with ISPs in Australia. That means that ISPs can connect directly to Netflix without paying transit providers to carry the traffic.