hetzel.net

Finally: StreamOn

This translation was generated automatically.

We’ve discussed Telekom’s zero-rating offer StreamOn several times on the show: first the US version, BingeOn, and now the German equivalent, which was recently introduced at a rather embarrassing event.

This is about Bits und so, an audio and video magazine I’ve run for more than ten years. Telekom claims it doesn’t discriminate against any offer, no matter how small. Thomas Lohninger at netzpolitik.org suggests testing that claim by registering my own service.

I won’t do that, because registration entails many risks I can’t calculate. Quite apart from Telekom’s latest blatant violation of net neutrality.

Uncertainties

  • Does Bits und so qualify as audio, video, or both?

The show is primarily distributed as a podcast, meaning an RSS feed with enclosures. We’re also increasingly offering video streams and may offer downloads in the future, but through the same technical foundation: Apple’s HLS.

  • What’s the difference between a “stream” and a “download”?

Are downloads included in the offer too? HLS, for example, which is probably used mostly by Netflix and similar services but not by music streamers, isn’t a classic streaming protocol. It uses ordinary HTTP downloads of individual media segments that are played one after another.So it’s impossible to draw a truly clear distinction between the two kinds of access. Here too we use an open format that can also be played in VLC or on any Android phone, whose player we have no control over.

  • We don’t control most of the clients.

Podcasts are an open format and aren’t tied to one particular app, such as Spotify. We can’t influence how clients use the podcast downloads we provide.

Risks

StreamOn’s terms include the following:

  • Any change to these identifying characteristics must be reported to Telekom four weeks in advance.

No. So I’m supposed to wait four weeks before changing my servers, a URL, or any other characteristic? That’s worse than Apple’s certification process for iPhone apps.

  • Telekom gets access to all beta and pre-release versions of the service.

Also no.

  • If I make a mistake in the identifying characteristics that determine whether usage is zero-rated, I’m liable for the data volume that was incorrectly not charged to customers.

One small misconfiguration and I could owe up to €50,000. No.The fee for an incorrectly counted terabyte isn’t disclosed in advance. Telekom’s cloud cost calculator charges €64 per TB of traffic. The supposedly more valuable mobile network could be priced differently.

Blackmailability

In addition to these uncertainties and risks, there’s the fundamental problem that Telekom is again trying to pit providers against their customers.

StreamOn currently costs neither the provider nor the customer anything. The screws are already being put in place, but they haven’t been tightened yet.

That could change in one, two, or three years. I’ve seen no promise that the offer will remain free forever.

Tweets like this appeared on the very day it was announced:

@SpotifyDE when will you join @deutschetelekom’s #StreamOn? I don’t really want to switch to another streaming service. — Stmwe, April 4, 2017

Customers are nudged to use services included in StreamOn because they don’t count against their data allowance. If that service then withdraws because of the price pressure from a StreamOn offer that has newly become paid, it loses access to the customer, who finds an alternative.

Conversely, Telekom could decide at any time to charge customers for StreamOn. Want Netflix? That’ll be €5 extra, please. And net neutrality is gone.

“Finally”

Telekom increasingly obscures the fact that it is responsible for this whole dilemma of artificially limited data allowances. At the StreamOn launch event, they dragged a Telekom apprentice onto the stage to complain about how awful it is to get the text announcing that your connection will be throttled to dial-up speed. Who controls that? Who sends the text? Telekom itself.

There’s only one change that would justify “finally”: opening up data allowances and differentiating price tiers by LTE connection speed. I’m absolutely sure this model could work here just as well as in the UK and Scandinavia, with equal or better revenue for providers. That would be worth celebrating. The dishonest complaint about the throttling SMS isn’t.

Ban zero-rating!

For research purposes, I would have liked to see what it takes for a provider to register for StreamOn. But the risks, considerable effort, and delays to making changes to my service aren’t worth it. I’d even disagree with Mr. Lohninger’s recommendation: no provider should register for StreamOn if it doesn’t want Telekom to blackmail it sooner or later. Politicians and the Federal Network Agency need to ban zero-rating offers immediately.