> if Netflix decided to push 4k streams, that decision carried no repercussions for Netflix
This is not true. Netflix has to pay for transit of the bits leaving their servers just like everyone else. They just pay their transit provider for this, not Comcast (well, except when it is Comcast, but that's beside the point).
The right ways for Comcast to keep their costs under control re: video streaming would be to either meter pricing or drop rate limits. The problem is that metering is unpalatable to their customers, and rate limit drops would expose the lie that the entire cable modem marketing engine is based on (that last mile downstream throughput maximum is the only number that matters).
This is not true. Netflix has to pay for transit of the bits leaving their servers just like everyone else. They just pay their transit provider for this, not Comcast (well, except when it is Comcast, but that's beside the point).
The right ways for Comcast to keep their costs under control re: video streaming would be to either meter pricing or drop rate limits. The problem is that metering is unpalatable to their customers, and rate limit drops would expose the lie that the entire cable modem marketing engine is based on (that last mile downstream throughput maximum is the only number that matters).