Netflix on Thursday called for stronger net neutrality rules, blaming large ISPs for degrading the quality of Netflix streams in order to secure lucrative deals that ultimately provide better service.

Netflix specifically called out Comcast - with which it recently secured one of those deals - for "supporting weak net neutrality," something Comcast denied. The cable provider pointed out that it is currently the only ISP bound to abiding by the FCC's now-defunct net neutrality rules thanks to the terms of its NBC Universal deal.

Meanwhile, those "rules never were designed to deal with peering and Internet interconnection, which have been an essential part of the growth of the Internet for two decades," said David L. Cohen, Comcast's executive president.

Netflix chief Reed Hastings might very well agree with that. In a blog post, he called for net neutrality rules that go even further.

"The essence of net neutrality is that ISPs such as AT&T and Comcast don't restrict, influence or otherwise meddle with the choices consumers make," he wrote. "The traditional form of net neutrality which was recently overturned by a Verizon lawsuit is important, but insufficient."

"This weak net neutrality isn't enough to protect an open, competitive Internet; a stronger form of net neutrality is required," Hastings continued. "Strong net neutrality additionally prevents ISPs from charging a toll for interconnection to services like Netflix, YouTube, or Skype, or intermediaries such as Cogent, Akamai or Level 3, to deliver the services and data requested by ISP residential subscribers. Instead, they must provide sufficient access to their network without charge."

The FCC put its net neutrality rules into place in Dec. 2010, and they essentially demanded that ISPs not discriminate based on application. If Comcast was seeing a huge traffic spike, for example, it could slow down its service overall, but could not block Netflix or BitTorrent or another traffic-hungry service to speed up its network. The ISPs said they agreed with the principles of net neutrality, but argued that the FCC did not have the authority to regulate the issue. Verizon sued and earlier this year, a court agreed, striking down the rules. The FCC has since gone back to the drawing board.

Hastings pointed to Cablevision as an example of an ISP with "strong net neutrality." But "on other big ISPs, due to a lack of sufficient interconnectivity, Netflix performance has been constrained, subjecting consumers who pay a lot of money for high-speed Internet to high buffering rates, long wait times and poor video quality."

Netflix said it has "reluctantly" signed interconnection deals with the likes of Comcast in order to ensure the best service possible. But ideally, it wants strong net neutrality rules that ban these firms from providing inferior service unless a deal is in place.

"Netflix believes strong net neutrality is critical, but in the near term we will in [certain] cases pay the toll to the powerful ISPs to protect our consumer experience," Hastings wrote.

Meanwhile, Hastings complained that "ISPs want us to share in their costs. But they don't also offer for Netflix or similar services to share in the ISPs revenue, so cost-sharing makes no sense."

"Some big ISPs are extracting a toll because they can - they effectively control access to millions of consumers and are willing to sacrifice the interests of their own customers to press Netflix and others to pay," Hastings concluded.

Not surprisingly, Comcast's Cohen took issue with Hastings's assessment. "There has been no company that has had a stronger commitment to openness of the Internet than Comcast," he said.

"Providers like Netflix have always paid for their interconnection to the Internet and have always had ample options to ensure that their customers receive an optimal performance through all ISPs at a fair price," Cohen continued. "We are happy that Comcast and Netflix were able to reach an amicable, market-based solution to our interconnection issues and believe that our agreement demonstrates the effectiveness of the market as a mechanism to deal with these matters."

For more, check out PCMag Live in the video below, which discusses Hastings' net neutrality slam.