Mini, jumping drones fly over Manhattan

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Drone-maker Parrot is releasing two new models of miniature drones this August: the Jumping Sumo and the Rolling Spider.

CNNMoney took them out for a spin on a midtown Manhattan rooftop.

The Jumping Sumo -- as its name suggests -- can actually fling itself two and a half feet in the air (so we were careful to keep it away from the edge of the building). It's controlled by an app for Apple (AAPL, Tech30) iOS and Google (GOOGL, Tech30) Android devices, and it requires a Wi-Fi connection. The Sumo can be controlled at a distance of about 160 feet.

Unlike many of Parrot's other products, it has wheels and not propellers -- it can't fly.

On the other hand, we took the Rolling Spider joy riding over Broadway. It's a Bluetooth-controlled miniature quadcopter that works with iOS and Android devices. As of September, it will be Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) Windows compatible. The Spider also comes with a set of attachable wheels, which enables the robot to scale walls. The smartphone control range extends about 50 feet.

Related: What would you pay for a drone bartender?

At one point the wind took the Spider a bit out of reach and it flew very close to a nearby building (the only onlooker that appeared to notice simply lowered her shades).

The Jumping Sumo is $159 and the Rolling Spider is $99. Both robots are targeted at a younger demographic than Parrot's AR drones, which will run you about $300.

"It really introduces the technology to fourteen-plus, but we'll see kids of all ages wanting to play with these devices," said Parrot Vice President Peter George.

The ultimate in childhood spying.

First Published: June 17, 2014: 6:55 AM ET

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Stoner Drug, serving small-town Iowa for 118 years

When Stoner Drug got its start in 1896, the word "stoner" didn't have the hippie connotation it does today. But the pharmacy likely sold cocaine and opiates, back when they were legal.

Hamburg, Iowa (CNNMoney)

So reads the sign on Interstate 29 as it winds by the farm town of Hamburg, Iowa, population 1,187.

Surrounded by sprawling farmland and foothills, Hamburg is wedged into the southwest corner of Iowa between Missouri and Nebraska. The first business off the exit is a John Deere (DE) dealership, and the heart of town is a sparsely inhabited Main Street, with a smattering of parked cars but nary a person to be seen.

While Stoner Drug is easy to find, the storefront is so nondescript, you might think it's out of business. But you'd be wrong, because Stoner Drug is very much in business, and has been for 118 years.

The first thing you see when you walk in the door is a rack of tie-dyed T-shirts emblazoned with the store's name. That's when you realize that you're actually a tourist -- and that the people who work at Stoner Drug are in on the joke and making money from it.

Related: 5 of the oldest businesses in America

The T-shirts, sweatshirts and gifts -- along with the vintage soda fountain at the center of the room -- bring in between $10,000 to $15,000 a year.

"If we charged for bathroom stops, the number would be much greater," said Phil Kuhr, a Navy vet who became a pharmacist through the GI Bill and has worked at Stoner Drug for 35 years. "A lot of people just stop outside and take pictures."

Kuhr, the store's manager, said they used to sell the shirts online, but it didn't last.

"We shut [the site] down because no one really knew how to maintain it," he said. "I did not have the time to fool with it."

After all, the real business is in the back, where the pharmacy is located. Kuhr said that's the big reason for Stoner Drug's profitability and longevity.

"My main focus is on prescriptions," said Kuhr. "That's 95% of our business."

Related: Want a job? Try the pot industry

A pharmacist named Cosby Stoner opened the drug store in 1896 in a building that no longer exists, located two blocks from its current location, where the store has been since the 1950s. At the time of its founding, the word "stoner" didn't have the hippie meaning it holds today -- and nobody thought it was funny to associate "stoner" with "drug." The store didn't start selling its ironic T-shirts until a century after its inception.

But as it turns out, the name isn't so ironic after all. Kuhr said Stoner Drug and other 19th century pharmacies typically sold tinctures, or trace solutions, of cocaine and laudanum, a powerful opiate.

"I'm not sure when heroin was first formulated, but laudanum was perfectly legal back then," said Kuhr. "It was available over the counter. Cocaine was also legal."

He's not sure what cocaine was used for, but laudanum was one of the few available painkillers for patients suffering serious diseases like cancer. In John Wayne's last Western, "The Shootist," the terminally ill gunslinger is prescribed laudanum by a doctor, played by James Stewart.

But then the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act came along in 1914 and spoiled the party. Few people today, except for readers of William Burroughs, have even heard of the act, which was the first legislative restriction on opium and cocaine.

For the first 18 years of its existence, Stoner Drug really did live up to his name. But times have changed.

"Currently here, the big thing is meth," said Kuhr, "and we have to record sales of pseudoephedrine."

First Published: June 17, 2014: 6:51 AM ET

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Banks know that customers hate them

Banks are still facing image problems due to their sins from the credit crisis and Great Recession.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

More than 80% of communications, marketing and investor relations managers at banks, brokerages and other financial services firms said that they think the financial crisis of 2008 is still having a negative impact on their companies.

That's according to a survey of banking executives at 225 companies done for PR and communications firm Makovsky by market researcher Ebiquity last month. The findings were released Tuesday but given to CNNMoney first.

The problems still creating headaches for the industry include: Excessively large bonuses, numerous lawsuits and big fines tied to bad practices leading up to the Great Recession.

The bankers say that this is taking a financial toll on the industry. According to Scott Tangney, executive vice president of Makovsky, those surveyed estimate that their firms lost 27% in revenue over the past two years, equaling billions of dollars, due to reputation problems.

Related: Want to make a lot of money? Be a bank CEO

Unsurprisingly, the bankers point their fingers at regulators. Tangney said that 55% of the executives surveyed thought regulatory actions, fines and lawsuits were hurting the industry's reputation.

State attorneys general, as well as federal regulators, remind the public of all the sins of the past by continuing to go after the industry. It also doesn't help when there are headlines about banks failing stress tests and being told they need more capital.

"The issues that have plagued financial services firms are not going away. The Occupy Wall Street movement has been replaced by regulators. The regulators are the new activists," Tangney said.

But at the same time, more than 60% of executives said that improving both customer and employee satisfaction would be a "very important" step towards improving their reputation.

Tangney added that those who were surveyed thought that the financial services firms with Wall Street exposure are the ones who have the most to prove to customers.

In fact, he said that the survey participants (a mix of executives from mid-to-large sized publicly traded and privately held financial services firms) felt that JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) had the biggest drop in reputation recently. Given that those three banks have remained in the headlines for multi-billion dollar settlements tied to the pre-crisis era, that makes sense.

Related: Warren Buffett's favorite bank -- Wells Fargo -- isn't like the others

But being big doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have a bad image. Tangney said that the banking executives declared that Wells Fargo (WFC) -- which is the largest bank in the U.S. by market value -- had the strongest reputation.

Tangney thinks that the reason for that is that Wells Fargo mostly stuck to traditional Main Street banking instead of getting heavily involved with trading and investment banking.

The stock performance of Wells Fargo bears this out as well. Shares are trading near an all-time high while shares of Citigroup, Bank of America, insurer AIG (AIG) and other financial firms that continued to have problems even their big bailouts, remain well below their pre-crisis peaks.

So can the banks succeed in repairing their images? It's not going to happen overnight. Treacly commercials from big financial firms about how bank loans help boost small businesses don't seem to be doing the trick.

Related: Capital One to let more people open checking accounts

Tangney said that many banking executives conceded it will take several more years for banks to regain the trust they lost. And the bankers realize that it will be better for the whole industry when the negative headlines finally start to subside.

"The number one challenge for banks next year is differentiating themselves from other financial firms that have bad reputations," Tangney said. "It's going to be hard to rebuild their image in this environment."

First Published: June 17, 2014: 8:03 AM ET

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Comcast is turning your home router into a public Wi-Fi hotspot

It's been one year since Comcast started its monster project to blanket the entire nation with continuous Wi-Fi coverage. Imagine waves of wireless Internet emitting from every home.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

It's potentially creepy and annoying. But the upside is Internet everywhere.

It's been one year since Comcast (CMCSA) started its monster project to blanket residential and commercial areas with continuous Wi-Fi coverage. Imagine waves of wireless Internet emitting from every home, business and public waiting area.

Comcast has been swapping out customers' old routers with new ones capable of doubling as public hotspots. So far, the company has turned 3 million home devices into public ones. By year's end it plans to activate that feature on the other 5 million already installed.

Anyone with an Xfinity account can register their devices (laptop, tablet, phone) and the public network will always keep them registered -- at a friend's home, coffee shop or bus stop. No more asking for your cousin's Wi-Fi network password.

Related: Chattanooga's super-fast publicly owned Internet

But what about privacy? It seems like Comcast did this the right way.

Outsiders never get access to your private, password-protected home network. Each box has two separate antennae, Comcast explained. That means criminals can't jump from the public channel into your network and spy on you.

And don't expect every passing stranger to get access. The Wi-Fi signal is no stronger than it is now, so anyone camped in your front yard will have a difficult time tapping into the public network. This system was meant for guests at home, not on the street.

As for strangers tapping your router for illegal activity: Comcast said you'll be guilt-free if the FBI comes knocking. Anyone hooking up to the "Xfinity Wi-Fi" public network must sign in with their own traceable, Comcast customer credentials.

Still, no system is foolproof, and this could be unnecessary exposure to potential harm. Craig Young, a computer security researcher at Tripwire, has tested the top 50 routers on the market right now. He found that two-thirds of them have serious weaknesses. If a hacker finds one in this Comcast box, all bets are off.

"If you're opening up another access point, it increases the likelihood that someone can tamper with your router," he said.

Related: Stalker is a creepy look at you, online

What about connection speed? Having several people tapping a single machine tends to clog up the Wi-Fi. Comcast says it found a way to make this work.

With two separate networks, each antenna has its own data speed cap. Comcast said the private channel provides whatever speed customers already pay to get (most have 25 Megabits per second). The public hotspot channel is given 15 Mbps and allows up to five people to connect at a time.

That means having your data-hungry friends over shouldn't slow down your Netfli (NFLX, Tech30)stream.

Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas promised "there's more than enough capacity" in the cables connecting to people's homes to make this work.

"You shouldn't experience any conflict between the two networks," he said. "It's something our engineers thought about carefully. The last thing we want to allow is to create a bad user experience."

Comcast's project that started in northern New Jersey has now spread to Boston, Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and elsewhere.

"Before this, there was no value in having Internet when you're not at home," Douglas said. "Every time you left the house you walked away from your subscription. But with all these hotspot locations, you can connect to the Internet remotely. Everyone's device is mobile. It makes a lot of sense."

But what if you hate the idea of your private boxes turned into public hotspots? You can turn it off by calling Comcast or logging into your account online. The company says fewer than 1% of customers have done that so far.

First Published: June 16, 2014: 7:09 AM ET

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Cops can access your connected home data

The home screen for AT&T's "Digital Life" system.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Smart home technology is the latest craze among big tech and telecom companies, which are rolling out products that allow people to remotely control things like lights and locks and view footage from security cameras via mobile devices. Apple (AAPL, Tech30) became the latest company to get in on the act earlier this month, unveiling a new software platform called HomeKit that will allow people to manage their connected devices with their iPads or iPhones.

Companies like AT&T (T, Tech30), Verizon (VZ, Tech30) and Time Warner Cable (TWC) already offer smart home systems. Google (GOOGL, Tech30), meanwhile, bought connected device maker Nest Labs earlier this year and has reportedly looked into purchasing security camera maker Dropcam as well.

But smart home customers might be unaware that their security footage is being stored in some cases, and that it can be used against them in legal proceedings.

Related: Apple's HomeKit is safer, but not hack-proof

"We're seeing law enforcement across a variety of areas arguing that they should be able to access information with lower standards than before the electronic age," said Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union.

"If a lot of information is flowing out of your home, it provides a window into the things you're doing in your private space," he added.

Tech companies already get thousands of requests for customer data each year from government intelligence agencies as well as traditional law enforcement for things like email and phone records. Once home security footage begins being stored on companies' servers, there's no reason why cops wouldn't seek that out as well.

That means you may want to study the terms of service from your smart home provider to see what kinds of requirements they place on government and law enforcement data requests.

There are generally two ways the government or cops can get their hands on smart home data: search warrants and subpoenas. Warrants are authorized by judges when prosecutors show there is "probable cause" to believe that a specific piece of evidence they're seeking may be related to criminal activity. The standard for subpoenas is much lower, generally requiring only that the information being sought be relevant to an investigation. Some subpoenas require that the subject of the information request be notified and given a chance to challenge it, though some do not.

Related: Microsoft fights warrant for customer emails stored abroad

AT&T spokeswoman Gretchen Schultz said that if law enforcement officials are seeking smart home footage in a criminal investigation, the company requires them to provide a search warrant before the video is released. If the request comes in the form of a civil subpoena, she added, AT&T requires consent from the customer in question.

Time Warner Cable said it requires a subpoena before releasing pictures or video footage from its smart home system to law enforcement.

Dropcam declined to comment on how it handles government video requests, though it said footage is stored for only 30 days at a maximum. Apple declined to comment, while Verizon did not respond to requests for comment.

"People should be asking what steps the companies are taking to encrypt and make sure that their information is private," said Hanni Fakhoury, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Consumers really should be looking for companies that say they will only turn over footage with a search warrant."

There's also the possibility of smart home footage being sought by plaintiffs in civil cases. Location data from toll tags like E-ZPass, for example, has previously been used in divorce proceedings.

"Any time there's a data trail being generated, litigants in all varieties of litigation, civil or criminal, will want to get their hands on it," Fakhoury said.

First Published: June 16, 2014: 7:14 AM ET

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Stocks: 4 things to know before the open

Click on chart to track premarkets

LONDON (CNNMoney)

Here are the four things you need to know ahead of the opening bell:

1. Stocks take a hit, oil and gold prices strengthen: U.S. stock futures were in negative territory and all the key European stock markets were lower Monday as the latest trouble in Ukraine and fighting in Iraq dominated the news. Prices for gold and oil were higher.

Russia said it will cut off gas exports to Ukraine. The price of natural gas was up by around 1%.

Meanwhile, oil prices were on the rise as militants extended their control in Iraq.

"Pictures of atrocities in Iraq, the breakdown of talks between Ukraine and [Russia's state-owned gas supplier] Gazprom, even scandal within the Polish central bank ... it all makes for a risk averse start to the week," said Kit Juckes, a strategist at Societe Generale.

2. Potential market movers -- Starbucks, Medtronic, Covidien: Starbucks (SBUX) shares were lower by roughly 2% in premarket trading. The company announced Sunday night that it will begin paying up to $30,000 per employee for college courses.

Medtronic (MDT) shares surged 11% in premarket trading after the company announced it will buy Ireland-based Covidien for $42.9 billion.

Related: Fear & Greed Index still extremely greedy

3. Economic data: The U.S. Federal Reserve will release its monthly industrial production report at 9:15 a.m. ET.

The Federal Reserve will discuss monetary policy on Tuesday and Wednesday. The meeting will be closely watched by investors.

Related: CNNMoney's Tech30

4. Friday trading recap: U.S. stocks closed higher Friday. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all made modest gains.

First Published: June 16, 2014: 5:08 AM ET

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Costa Rica aims to win World Cup ad game

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Many experts, including Goldman Sachs, predict Costa Rica (and the U.S.) won't make it out of the first round, but the Central American nation has it sights on another goal: Winning the World Cup ad game.

"Essential Costa Rica" is a print and TV ad campaign running in major cities in the U.S., U.K. and Germany during the World Cup. The message is simple: Costa Rica is more than a pretty place to vacation, come invest and partner with us.

Related: Brazil 2014 set to smash TV records

It's a push to shed the country's image as a Banana Republic. Only 6% of the country's GDP is agriculture today, although the sector remains a large employer. The U.S. is its biggest trading partner, accounting for about half of its exports and foreign direct investment.

The country is growing its technology industry and promoting the fact that 16% of its population has college degrees now.

President Solís is a good example. His grandfather had no schooling. His father made it to about high school, and he has a master's degree. Before he was elected president in April, much of his life was spent as a history professor and scholar. He ran as a "third party" candidate.

CNNMoney interviewed President Solís in New York this week. This is an excerpt of the conversation.

Q: Intel (INTC, Tech30) and Bank of America (BAC) recently announced 3,000 job cuts in Costa Rica. What are you doing about it?

Solís: Within one month of taking office, I am here in the United States speaking with investors, those already working in Costa Rica and those who may want to go. As a result, we've been able to get an announcement from Intel that their Mega Lab will be installed in Costa Rica, which is extraordinarily important for us, thus moving us from manufacturing to research and development of new products. I hope this will bring about significant change in how we're seen in the international community.

We also have a VMWare (VMW) announcement saying they are expanding their activities in Costa Rica. I hope this will clear any doubt that may exist regarding the commitment of the new government to the private sector or the conditions of the country for direct investments.

Q: Several analysts cut your GDP forecasts in half. Is that fair?

Solís: This is not what the central bank in Costa Rica is saying. In our estimation and that of the World Bank, we are going to grow at a rate of 3.7% this year. I think it's going to go up, not down. I hope so because this is the best way we can deal with a number of challenges that we have: Fiscal, monetary and other ways.

Related: The world's largest economies

Q: How do you move the Costa Rican economy beyond tourism and agriculture?

Solís: It has happened in the last 25 years. We were an early exporter of coffee to Europe. Now we have more than 250 multi-national companies, especially in manufacturing and services.

We have 14 different free trade agreements -- 50 countries -- with China, North America, Europe, etc. Coffee exports today are only 3% of our goods. Bananas are 7%. Services represent 33%. We have already moved beyond agriculture.

Related: CNN selects Costa Rica as one of the top 11 travel spots for 2014

Q: Your currency the colón has fallen a lot against the dollar in recent months. Will this continue?

Solís: Before the government entered into office, the colón depreciation started to jump in the band system that we have. We're going to keep the bands, but we are going to lower the volatility by flattening the bands. The central bank has enough reserves to prevent this volatility without tampering with the trend -- the slow trend -- towards devaluation, which has been good news for the Costa Rican exporters and the tourism industry. We are almost at the level we were before the crisis.

Q: What would you like to see evolve in your relations with the United States?

Solís: I would like to see the relationship evolve in an official way to move more from security issues related to drugs into talk of the environment, green energy and social development issues. These policies will help prevent violence, including narcotraffic.

Q: A mysterious kidney disease is impacting your agriculture workers. What are you doing about it?

Solís: We are researching the problem to begin with because we don't know where it comes from. We were also asked about arsenic. We're trying to find out what the problem is because it seems to be associated with certain regions.

First Published: June 14, 2014: 9:36 AM ET

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The death of U.S. savings bonds

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Americans bought over 40 million of the most popular savings bonds in 2000. Last year, the U.S. sold a mere 400,000 of them.

They were often given to students, newly married couples or anyone having a birthday. It was akin to gifting cash, but better. The bond certificate looked extra official, and it encouraged young people to save for the future -- whether for further study, a car or a house.

Savings bonds offer some interest each year -- much like money held in a bank's savings account -- but if you hold the bond to the end of the 10 to 30 year duration, you often make more money due to various adjustment procedures. It's akin to a bonus payment.

But these bonds are going the way of the landline telephone, and there are several reasons why.

For starters, savings bonds, which have been around since the 1930s, are no longer an attractive investment.

Related: Investors chase higher yields in scary places

"The interest rates are so low these days that people just don't even get involved in them anymore," says Jim Moore, a Wells Fargo financial advisor based in St. Louis.

The fixed-rate "EE" bond offers a mere 0.5% interest rate for the next 20 years, barely better than putting money under a mattress. Bonds issued at the end of last year were yielding an even more lousy 0.1% rate.

Moore recommends buying a good quality, high paying dividend stock or exploring other savings options instead. Many parents and grandparents utilize 529 savings plans for colleges that are run at the state level. Investment growth in a 529 plan is tax deferred, and any money taken from the 529 to pay for college isn't taxed at the federal level.

Related: Tax-savvy college savings options

But it's the Internet that really killed off demand for savings bonds.

You can no longer buy a paper savings bond. On January 1, 2012, the government stopped sales of over-the-counter paper bonds and forced people to buy them online via TreasuryDirect.

That's when the big plummet occurred. The goal was to save money, but in the process, the government made it harder for potential buyers.

Many older Americans were raised on ads to be patriotic and buy these bonds to help the country (and yourself). There were slogans such as "Back Your Future." The savings bonds were sold in many places, including local banks and brokerages.

Now you have to go online and fill out cumbersome forms with your taxpayer ID number, the intended recipient's Social Security number, your bank account and other information. It's even more complex if you try to gift a savings bond to someone under 18.

Related: Fewer students have jobs on graduation day

Kate Warne, investment strategist for Edward Jones, says the only time she hears about savings bonds these days is from clients telling her how hard the website is to navigate.

"The complaint I get is 'I have trouble. What should I do instead?'" Warne says.

Those formal looking certificates that made such lovely accompaniments to graduation degrees are history. The only way to get one now is to ask for your federal tax refund to be returned to you as savings bonds.

Even that is convoluted. The bonds are only issued in $50 increments, so unless your refund is perfectly divisible by 50, you get savings bonds plus a check for the difference. It's a small program according to the Treasury Department.

The government has no plans to revive paper savings bond sales. There is a mock certificate people can print out online to wrap up in a box and give as a gift. But that just doesn't have the same appeal.

First Published: June 14, 2014: 9:10 AM ET

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Jetblue's answer to first class

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

That's what Jetblue is hoping to sell to its customers starting Sunday, when the airline launches a new service called "Mint." It will begin with only the New York to Los Angeles route, and will offer the kind of amenities usually seen on international flights.

Billing it "coast-to-coast without the cost," travelers can expect seats that become private suites with a door, food lifted from the menu of a trendy New York City restaurant and tiny bottles of fancy beauty products. There's also a signature cocktail and organic ice cream from a Brooklyn scoop shop, all for about $600 a ticket, each way.

It's not exactly flying behind the first class curtain (there is, in fact, no curtain separating the cabins) but it's close, and built for the everyday business traveler willing to spend a little more.

"I think they can expect a refreshing surprise," said Brad Farmerie, the executive chef of Saxon + Parole, the restaurant behind Mint's food.

He said passengers will be offered options like octopus with truffled portobello mushroom mousse for dinner, and French toast stuffed with banana and homemade Nutella for breakfast.

Related: jetBlue pilots vote to unionize

The beauty company Birchbox will supply the amenities for Mint, with gift boxes filled with products like moisturizers, sunscreens and hair products. Birchbox co-founder and co-CEO Katia Beauchamp said that she hopes the kits will make traveling easier "and more glamorous!"

There are gift boxes for women, and separate ones for men.

The cost for all this luxury? Seats are currently offered at $599 one way, if booked by next week for travel later this year. A non-refundable economy class ticket taken during a similar time is about $330. All the amenities are included with the ticket price.

JetBlue's new service comes at a time when more and more airlines are building in extravagant options for fliers willing to spend. AirFrance recently announced its new La Première cabin, which has four private suites and will debut in September.

Etihad Airways' A380 offers a one-bedroom "residence" on one of its long-haul planes departing from London, at a cost of $21,000 a ticket.

While all that luxury comes with a hefty price tag, JetBlue's decision to keep things less astronomical may signal a trend that combines the casual with the costly.

Like Virgin Atlantic's rather whimsical new option for its higher-paying passengers -- a onesie pajama bodysuit with feet. The airline dubbed the onesie a "fun alternative" for the first class flier.

First Published: June 14, 2014: 9:17 AM ET

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FCC to investigate Netflix-Verizon spat

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Federal Communications Commission chair Tom Wheeler said Friday that he had directed his staff to gather information on the dispute from Netflix (NFLX, Tech30) and broadband providers including Verizon (VZ, Tech30) to understand "precisely what is happening" and "whether consumers are being harmed."

"The bottom line is that consumers need to understand what is occurring when the Internet service they've paid for does not adequately deliver the content they desire, especially content they've also paid for," Wheeler said.

At this point, he added, the FCC is simply "collecting information, not regulating."

The dispute flared up a few weeks ago after Netflix began displaying messages for users whose videos are slow to load blaming Verizon and other ISPs for the problem. Verizon responded with a cease-and-desist letter demanding that Netflix stop displaying the message, calling it "deceptive" and threatening legal action.

Related: Microsoft fights warrant for customer emails stored abroad

Netflix said Friday that it welcomes the FCC's effort "to bring more transparency in this area," adding: "Americans deserve to get the speed and quality of Internet access they pay for."

Netflix has been complaining for months that some big broadband companies are allowing its streaming speeds to lag in order to compel it to pay them for a faster connection. Netflix reached paid connection deals earlier this year with Comcast (CMCSA) and Verizon, though it said it did so "reluctantly," accusing the Internet providers of abusing their market power to extract tolls.

The broadband providers counter that Netflix is generating ever-increasing amounts of data consumption on their networks without helping to pay for the infrastructure upgrades necessary to deliver that content.

Verizon said Friday Internet traffic exchange "has always been handled through commercial agreements," and that it's "hopeful that policy makers will recognize this fact."

Comcast said it hopes the FCC's review will bring "full transparency" to interconnection issues and "enable full education as to how this market works."

The FCC's review comes at a time when it is seeking public comment on its new open Internet rules. But the FCC's rules will only cover how broadband companies treat traffic on their own networks; they don't address the issue of connections between networks, which is at the heart of the Netflix dispute. Netflix also has called for the FCC to regulate those paid-connection deals. Broadband providers say that's not necessary, and that paid-connection deals have long been part of the way the Internet works.

Netflix isn't the first content provider to strike a paid-connection deal with a broadband company; other big tech companies like Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30), Google (GOOGL, Tech30) and Facebook (FB, Tech30) have similar agreements.

First Published: June 13, 2014: 2:20 PM ET

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