T-Mobile CEO John Legere doesn’t see any problems with his company’s Binge On streaming service and he doesn’t think anyone else should either.
On Twitter’s Periscope, Legere directly addressed the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which had in a recent report questioned the legatility of Binge On and T-Mobile’s video streaming practices.
“Who the fuck are you EFF, why are you stirring up so much trouble, and who pays you?” Legere said.
The comment sparked a backlash from many online, with Legere having to backtrack, saying he does know who @EFF is and that he’s sure “they do some very good things.”
Legere was responding to the EFF’s claims that T-Mobile was optimizing/throttling all video content regardless of whether the provider is a Binge On participant. That practice would be in direct violation of the FCC’s net neutrality rules, which require that ISPs treat all traffic equally.
Legere describes the technology behind Binge On as “optimizing” content for the mobile screen but some have pointed out that it does nothing but degrade the stream by compressing it to 480p, a quality that is generally suitable for devices with smaller screens.
“They’re looking for a gotcha here,” Legere said of the EFF. “There is no gotcha. EFF is not your BFF, they didn’t give you some hidden item. I’ve explained the technology. The point is, this is an option, it’s a benefit and it meets all of the requirements of being net neutrality friendly.”
When addressing the net neutrality implications, Legere has continually returned to the fact that customers can opt out of the service. .
“It’s at full control of the customer. You’re in effect turning it on,” Legere said. “You’re enabling it. Secondly, any provider…can partipate. We’re also content agnostic, so we’re not judging about the content. And it’s free.”
The FCC has been mum on the hubbub so far but given past comments about judging services on a case by case basis, it’s likely the Commission will be forced to review the service as it relates to net neautrality in the very near future.
