THE EUROPEAN UNION URGES NETFLIX TO LIMIT HIGH DEFINITION STREAMS

The European Union is urging Netflix and other streaming platforms to stop showing video in high definition to prevent the internet from breaking under the strain of unprecedented usage due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to CNN.

With so many countries on forced lockdowns to fight the spread of the virus, hundreds of millions working from home and even more children out of school, EU officials are concerned about the huge strain on internet bandwidth.

European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who is responsible for the EU internal market covering more than 450 million people, tweeted that he had spoken with Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix. “To beat Covid-19, we stay at home. Teleworking and streaming help a lot but infrastructures might be in strain. To secure Internet access for all, let’s #SwitchToStandard definition when HD is not necessary,”  he posted.

"Commissioner Breton is right to highlight the importance of ensuring that the internet continues to run smoothly during this critical time,"  a Netflix spokesperson told CNN Business. "We've been focused on network efficiency for many years, including providing our open connect service for free to telecommunications companies,"  he added.

Netflix said it already adjusts the quality of streams to available network capacity, and uses a special delivery network that keeps its library closer to users as a way of consuming less bandwidth.