Assuming the worst (it's what the media do), the uber-popular Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) will either kill itself with a streaming-only business plan or be throttled by the all-powerful combination of Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and NBC Universal.
Some critics believe that Netflix's plan to remove the "add to DVD queue" portion of its streaming option is suicide. The San Francisco Chronicle conceded that the Internet is getting better but "the problems that have plagued the Internet from day one ... still plague the Internet today, thus begging the question: why should we put all of our eggs into one, problematic basket and assume everything will be okay?"
Especially, Minnesota Sen. Al Franken added, if that basket is in the hands of a huge entity like the newly merged Comcast and NBC Universal. "I'm hearing that Comcast is already preparing to pull NBC Universal's programming from Netflix when it's next up for review," Franken said, adding that Comcast and other cable operators "aren't stupid and they want to shut it down."
For more:
- the San Francisco Chronicle has this story
- and arstechnica has this story
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