In a blog post, Netflix said such messages were part of a test that began in May. The test is due to end June 16 and Netflix will figure out later whether or not it'll conduct further testing.
Here's the announcement from Verizon:
As part of this transparency campaign, we started a small scale test in early May that lets consumers know, while they're watching Netflix, that their experience is degraded due to a lack of capacity into their broadband provider's network. We are testing this across the U.S. wherever there is significant and persistent network congestion This test is scheduled to end on June 16. We will evaluate rolling it out more broadly.
Some broadband providers argue that our actions, and not theirs, are causing a degraded Netflix experience. Netflix does not purposely select congested routes. We pay some of the world's largest transit networks to deliver Netflix video right to the front door of an ISP. Where the problem occurs is at that door -- the interconnection point -- when the broadband provider hasn't provided enough capacity to accommodate the traffic their customer requested.
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