Comment Re: He also forgot to mention... (Score 1, Interesting) 343
The point is that, in both cases, the sender/content provider has already paid. If there's an additional cost to transmitting the content across a boundary (different country or different peering service), then in both cases that has already been factored into the cost of sending it, and paid to the local provider (post office or ISP).
Excellent point. I totally understand how you can feel this way. However, in reality, things are a bit different:
In the case of the mail, the USPS has contracts with carriers all over the world, where either someone pays the other, or they both agree to forward each others mail without charging. The equivalent of this on the internet is called "peering". With two networks peer with each other (i.e. Netflix and Comcast), they mutually agree to provide access to each other's network. (In this case it is slightly more complicated, but that's irrelevant at this point).
The problem that is occurring between Netflix and Comcast is that Netflix is sending so much mail to Comcast, that Comcast would need to upgrade its infrastructure to handle all that mail. In your analogy, that would be the USPS sending 10 times as much mail to the Canadian Post than vice versa, forcing Canadian Post to hire more personnel, expand distribution centers and get more people on the road.
Is it really that unfair? And don't get me wrong, in other threads I've been called a "corporate apologist" for defending Comcast in this matter. I'm not, I don't like Comcast. They're an overpriced underperforming service with horrible customer service. However, from a technical point of view, I can totally understand their point of view.