Netflix Outage Adds Fuel to Pricing Outrage

BYTE -- The Netflix streaming entertainment service failed U.S. customers for more than five hours Sunday night.

According to reports online and BYTE editors testing out the service on a range of devices, the system failed nationwide at approximately 4 p.m. Pacific Time.

By 9:09 p.m. PT, BYTE editors and contributors in New England, Minnesota, Texas, New Mexico and California pronounced Netflix up and running on most devices. At 9:30 p.m., the Los Gatos, CA company finally posted an apology to customers on its Facebook page, inspiring some customer vitriol. At this writing, customers were still posting.

Netflix reps did not return messages or comment personally to BYTE on Sunday during or after the outage. Customer service reps speaking with BYTE reporters in Texas and New Mexico did unofficially confirm there was an outage late Sunday afternoon PT -- and that the problem was nationwide.

Netflix has yet to report the reasons for the system failure, a stony silence that only added fuel to customer outrage about the company's new pricing plans.

Netflix on July 12 announced a hard stop to its $9.99 DVD combined with streaming service plan. Customers now have three options -- pay $7.99 for streaming only, $7.99 for DVD only or about $16 for a combined plan. According to reports, many customers surveyed last week told reporters they'd sooner switch.

Users across consoles, mobile devices and their computers reported the outage -- and their outrage -- Sunday evening on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Speculation that hackers were responsible for the Netflix failure ran high online, but it remained idle speculation.

A dozen BYTE editors and contributors operating independently confirmed the outage on various devices before BYTE reported this story.

The outage cuts deep for this public company, lately beleaguered by customer outcry over the new pricing plans.

The timing couldn't be worse for the service outage. Last week, Netflix pricing plan changes ignited a backlash among customers, making headlines. According to analysts, Netflix stands to lose millions of customers as a result of the plan, which divides DVD and streaming.

Whether angry Netflix customers will follow through and actually cancel their plans is as yet unclear.

Without a doubt, Netflix users are twice-scorned and without a Sunday night flick, leaving them plenty of time to vent on Twitter.

Here are some Tweets from users:

BYTE editors monitoring the outage said the system failure was likely due to server problems, rather than hackers. Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) is the global leader in Internet movie subscription services, with more than 22 million customers.

Senior news editor Jacob Lopez broke this story for BYTE and will be following it as it develops.

Eric C. Mack contributed to this story.