This may be correct, but there might be a more complex issue just under the surface: a complex power play between your Internet service provider (ISP) and the companies that provide streaming video.

At the root of the problem are organizations called "data centers," reports tech site Ars Technica. Let's say you pay for Verizon FiOS and Netflix, and decide to stream a movie to your TV. Although Netflix provides the content and FiOS manages the cables, powerful Tier 1 data centers actually move much of the data from one place to another.

The issue of who pays whom can get exceedingly complicated. Services like Netflix need to pay data centers to carry their content. Data centers and ISPs work together — ISPs provide the framework for broadband (cables, Internet access), while data centers help data get from the content provider to the ISP to the customer.