Other CDNs (Akamai, Level3, etc.) pay Comcast/TimeWarner to host boxes in their datacenters, and to support interconnects to their private CDN networks.
If they start giving it to Netflix for free, how do they continue to charge other companies for the same service? The thing to note is that the established precedent is for companies to pay, because they see value in it. Netflix is trying to get something for free that other companies pay for. Oh, but they slapped the word "Open" on the front of it, so it's about free speech!
The ISPs don't give a shit about downstream bandwidth consumption because they get paid by the CDNs for that. What they do care about is last-mile bandwidth; i.e. the bandwidth between their datacenter and the customers' homes. It's not unlimited and there are constraints. That problem doesn't get solved (in fact, it gets worse) with OpenConnect.
If they start giving it to Netflix for free, how do they continue to charge other companies for the same service? The thing to note is that the established precedent is for companies to pay, because they see value in it. Netflix is trying to get something for free that other companies pay for. Oh, but they slapped the word "Open" on the front of it, so it's about free speech!
The ISPs don't give a shit about downstream bandwidth consumption because they get paid by the CDNs for that. What they do care about is last-mile bandwidth; i.e. the bandwidth between their datacenter and the customers' homes. It's not unlimited and there are constraints. That problem doesn't get solved (in fact, it gets worse) with OpenConnect.