Netflix is Now the Broadband Issue Champion Google Used to Be

John Oliver's June tirade about net neutrality brought a lot of attention to the issue, the comedian claiming that former-lobbyist turned FCC boss Tom Wheeler was "the equivalent of needing a baby sitter but hiring a dingo," while warning neutrality rules were really about stopping "cable company fuckery."

Apparently, Oliver's rant had another fan in Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.

John Oliver, we owe you!” the CEO wrote on Facebook in response to Wheeler's speech yesterday in which the FCC criticized the nation's uncompetitive broadband market

Netflix threw their support behind Wheeler's fairly obvious (to most people) acknowledgement over at the Netflix blog as well.

"As is the case in most industries, improvements such as faster speeds or lower prices generally result from real competition," said the company. "Without it, there are no market pressures to set appropriate pricing and no alternatives for consumers and businesses alike."

Netflix appears to have become the broadband policy flag-bearer Google once was before they sold their neutrality principles down the river. In addition to supporting the obvious need for more competition, Netflix also recently threw their support behind ISP reclassification under Title II, has battled against fixed-line usage caps and just this week urged the FCC to overthrow ISP-written protectionist state broadband laws.

While some will complain this is simply Netflix being self serving (what isn't in business policy fights?), consumers need all the help they can get in battles dominated by deep-pocketed giants like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon. That help used to be Google, who has been largely mute on key broadband issues the last several years and dead quiet on the net neutrality issue -- ever since they helped AT&T and Verizon craft the first set of awful FCC rules roughly seven years ago.