Comcast's Cohen Calls Hastings Peering Arguments 'Hogwash'

Comcast executive VP David Cohen says that Netflix CEO Reed Hasting's criticisms of the companies' recent peering deal are "essentially hogwash."

In an interview for C-SPAN's The Communicators, Cohen said that when the history of that deal is written, it will say that Netflix was the motivated force behind it, and that Netflix essentially wanted to cut out the wholesalers and deal directly with Comcast. "I have a huge amount of respect for him," Cohen said of Hastings. "He's built an amazing business. He's a great partner of Comcast. And, by the way, I think he would say Comcast is a great partner of his because, if it wasn't for Comcast and the cable industry and the investments we've made in broadband, Netflix would not be as successful as it is, and Netflix has clearly enabled us to sell more broadband subscriptions." Then came the hogwash part. He said peering agreements are nothing new, were how the Internet was built, and have nothing to do with network neutrality or the "stronger" rules Hastings was calling for.