Photo: Mr. Hyman.

This should really liven up the debate over data caps: Netflix wants Congress to step in. Man, cable companies are just going to love this.

Bloomberg reports that, in a hearing today, Netflix general counsel David Hyman told the House subcommittee on communications and technology that, “When you couple limited broadband competition with a strong desire to protect a legacy video distribution business, you have both the means and motivation to engage in anticompetitive behavior."

Democratic reps Henry Waxman and Anna Eshoo both made supportive-sounding remarks about protecting innovation.

As the site notes:

"The hearing was scheduled as the Justice Department is investigating whether companies including largest U.S. cable company Comcast and No. 2 Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) have created incentives to consumers to watch programming and high-speed Internet through their services to put online providers such as Netflix at a competitive disadvantage, according to two people familiar with the matter who weren’t authorized to speak publicly."

Excuse us, brb, the timer just dinged on our microwave popcorn.