Netflix to FCC: scary loophole in net neutrality rules

Netflix, the company that mails out DVDs and streams movies to millions of home theater potatoes, made the rounds to the Federal Communications Commission on Friday.

The company's general counsel told staffers and Commissioners that the movie rental distributor supports the agency's proposed Internet nondiscrimination rules. But they also include a potentially nasty loophole, Netflix warned—the "managed services" category that the Commission created in its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking back in October.

"Netflix is concerned that network operators will use so-called managed services in a way that harms unaffiliated content or service providers that compete directly with services provided by the network operator," the company told the FCC earlier this month. "In short, if left unchecked, the 'managed services' category could engulf the Commission's open Internet policies altogether" and let ISPs end run any regulations.

What are "managed services"? That remains to be worked out. It's a vague concept that appears to include IP voice and video. The FCC's NPRM suggests they could be good or bad for competition, depending on how they're deployed.