Monday, March 19, 2007
Google: Neutrality position has not changed
I have been busy! So it is old news that my previous post has been superseded (but see my update in red).
Meanwhile, on March 14 Tim Karr from savetheinternet.com called Google's PR person to get the straight dope on Google's Net Neutrality position.
Tim quotes the Google rep saying,
My previous declarations remain unchanged that Network Neutrality is, at its heart, an issue of Free Speech and Freedom of the Press, and its beneficiaries are citizens, end-users, innovators and littlecos, not the Google v. Telco conflict the popular press depicts.
[Of course, the telcos and cablecos see it totally as a business issue. To them, our First Amendment concerns and our worry about suppressed innovation are just not on their radar screen. Aye, there's the rub.]
It is likely that I'll be seeing Google Senior Policy Counsel Andrew McLaughlin, the original source of Drew Clark's GigaOm story on Google's putative change of heart, in a few weeks, and I'll ask him myself, face to face, what he said, and what message he meant to convey. Stay tuned.
I note further that I had a face-to-face conversation with Bob Kahn, a few weeks after his January 9, 2007 talk at the Computer History Museum was noisily reported as a repudiation of Network Neutrality. Kahn told me that his remarks had been completely taken out of context, and that he did not mean to make any declaration against Net Neutrality.
Meanwhile, on March 14 Tim Karr from savetheinternet.com called Google's PR person to get the straight dope on Google's Net Neutrality position.
Tim quotes the Google rep saying,
We strongly believe that Congress must take action to ensure a free and open Internet, in the face of a highly concentrated broadband market. Furthermore, Google’s position — which we testified to last year in Congress — is that broadband network operators should not be permitted to charge any content owner extra fees or extra tolls. We continue to support net neutrality legislation by Senators Dorgan and Snowe, and by Representative Markey, and we remain steadfast members of the coalition supporting net neutrality.This is consistent with Google's "don't be evil" stance, even if Google has the financial clout to make whatever non-neutral deal any Internet access provider requires. Google CEO Eric Schmidt agrees, saying, "The curious thing about Net Neutrality is that if there's any site that could afford [to pay higher telco fees for favorably discriminatory service] it would be Google."
My previous declarations remain unchanged that Network Neutrality is, at its heart, an issue of Free Speech and Freedom of the Press, and its beneficiaries are citizens, end-users, innovators and littlecos, not the Google v. Telco conflict the popular press depicts.
[Of course, the telcos and cablecos see it totally as a business issue. To them, our First Amendment concerns and our worry about suppressed innovation are just not on their radar screen. Aye, there's the rub.]
It is likely that I'll be seeing Google Senior Policy Counsel Andrew McLaughlin, the original source of Drew Clark's GigaOm story on Google's putative change of heart, in a few weeks, and I'll ask him myself, face to face, what he said, and what message he meant to convey. Stay tuned.
I note further that I had a face-to-face conversation with Bob Kahn, a few weeks after his January 9, 2007 talk at the Computer History Museum was noisily reported as a repudiation of Network Neutrality. Kahn told me that his remarks had been completely taken out of context, and that he did not mean to make any declaration against Net Neutrality.
Technorati Tags: EricSchmidt, Google, NetworkNeutrality, FirstAmendment, savetheinternet
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