Netflix defended its error messages to customers that blamed Verizon Communications' network, despite a cease-and-desist notice from the broadband service provider. In a reply to Verizon, Netflix's General Counsel David Hyman wrote on Monday that the message cited by Verizon merely lets Netflix customers know that the Verizon network is crowded. Netflix said it had determined that by calculating the difference between the speed at which traffic was handled during peak and non-peak hours.