Yesterday we told you about Netflix using on-screen messages to point the finger at ISPs like Verizon for problems with customers’ streaming video feeds. Looks like Big V didn’t take so well to being called out in front of the rest of the playground and has called in the lawyers to fight back.

CNBC reports that Verizon has slapped Netflix with a cease-and-desist letter with regards to the messages that read “The Verizon network is crowded right now. Adjusting video for smoother playback…”

“There is no basis for Netflix to assert that issues with respect to playback of any particular video session are attributable solely to the Verizon network,” claims the letter.

As we pointed out yesterday, Netflix speeds for Verizon FiOS customers began sinking noticeably in the second half of 2013, as it and other ISPs like Comcast and AT&T refused to upgrade their connections to Netflix’s bandwidth suppliers. As a result, data bottlenecks occurred, and customers who pay their ISPs for high-speed home broadband were getting the same Netflix quality as someone with a decent DSL connection.

Comcast performance improved dramatically after it came to a deal with Netflix wherein the streaming video giant pays the ISP and undisclosed amount of cash for better access to its network, which only carries the data along the so-called “last mile” to the end-user.

Verizon and Netflix reached a similar deal in recent weeks, though this poking of the big telecom lion by Netflix makes one wonder how amicable the terms of that deal were.

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