There’s something rotten in the state of online video streaming, and the data is starting to emerge

If you’ve been having trouble with your Netflix streams lately, and you’re struggling with what appears to be throttled bandwidth on Amazon Web Services, you’re not alone.

The problem is peering, or how the networks owned and operated by your Internet service provider connect with networks owned and operated by content providers such as Amazon or Netflix as well as transit providers and content delivery networks. Peering disputes have been occurring for years, but are getting more and more attention as the stakes in delivering online video are raised. The challenge for regulators and consumers is that the world of peering is very insular and understanding the deals that companies have worked out in the past or are trying to impose on the industry today is next to impossible. Which is why we need more data. And it’s possible that the Federal Communications Commission has that data -- or at least the beginnings of that data.