According to a report by the Wall Street Journal today, Google who has traditionally been one of the loudest advocates of equal network access for all content providers, known as network neutrality, has approached major cable and phone companies that carry Internet traffic with a proposal to create a fast lane for its own content Google .
Network Neutrality under lying principle is that all companies that operated data pipelines, like cable and phone companies, are supposed to treat all traffic the same, nobody is supposed to jump the line.
But phone and cable companies argue that Internet content providers should share in their network costs, particularly with Internet traffic growing by more than 50% annually. Carriers say that to keep up with surging traffic, driven mainly by the proliferation of online video, they need to boost revenue to upgrade their networks. Charging companies for fast lanes is one option.
The Journal noted that Microsoft and Yahoo have also quietly withdrawn from a coalition formed two years ago to protect network neutrality.
If companies like Google succeed in negotiating preferential treatment, the Internet could become a place where wealthy companies get faster and easier access to the Web than less affluent ones.
For computer users, it could mean that Web sites by companies not able to strike fast-lane deals will respond more slowly than those by companies able to pay.
“”””In the worst-case scenario, the Internet could become a medium where large companies, such as Comcast Corp. in cable television, would control both distribution and content and much of what users can access, according to neutrality advocates.”””
The Journal also noted that that Lawrence Lessig, an Internet law professor at Stanford University who has been mentioned as a candidate to head the Federal Communications Commission, who was a propoant to Network Neutrality, recently shifted gears by saying at a conference that content providers should be able to pay for faster service.
“There are good reasons to be able to prioritize traffic,” Mr. Lessig said later in an interview. “If everyone had to pay the same rates for postal service, than you wouldn’t be able to differentiate between sending a greeting card to your grandma versus sending an overnight letter to your lawyer.”
Microsoft, which appealed to Congress to save network neutrality just two years ago, has changed its position completely. “Network neutrality is a policy avenue the company is no longer pursuing,” Microsoft said in a statement.
Google’s proposed arrangement with network providers, internally called OpenEdge, would place Google servers directly within the network of the service providers The setup would accelerate Google’s service for users.
This is another major internet issue which will have impact for domainers and all internet businesses next year.
This whole google problem is getting scarier every day. Some day the world is going to look back and say, “Gee how did Google get so powerful”. Only a handfull of us will actually know the answer.
nothing these days seem to shock anymore
Well, well. It will certainly be interesting to see the new Administration’s position given its emphasis on upgrading the broadband infrastructure + its “fairness” for Main Street mantra.
Let’s see what the WJSs Tuesday edition has to say. This will go on for sure…
The article is not true, hack journalists strike again
http://lessig.org/blog/2008/12/the_madeup_dramas_of_the_wall.html
http://www.techmeme.com/081215/p10#a081215p10
If you start caching content closer to the users (already being done by large companies) it opens up more bandwidth for everyone else, which aids ‘net neutrality’ in a way as it eases pressure on the backbone.
I agree this has mammoth implications, but just wanted to make that simple point.
Wow,…finally it all turns into an evil battle:
“The Journal noted that Microsoft and Yahoo have also quietly withdrawn from a coalition formed two years ago to protect network neutrality.”
The internet cold war…
Here is where it gets more complicated. Obama wants to help Main St. but one of his major supporter and advisor is the CEO of Google.
Who do you think Obama will ask when the question of net neutrality comes up?
When Obama was campaigning, he was exposed to a number of peoples’ opinions. But, once in the White House, he will have to depend on advice from his inner circle. What do you think Eric Schmidt will say?
Since, Google has turned 180 degrees on a number of things, I wonder if “do no evil” is next?
google went “evil” when it went public.
the satelite side of their business is the scariest…they can see everything your doing they just can’t tell you they can..combine that with watching you search the net via Chrome and you should be nervous.
What a response to this post – interesting.
Greetings to all from Croatia
If Gooogle not neutral anymore there will always someone replacing their role. I think Google will not jeopardize their reputation, after all their done so far.
google will be google lol
Never know what they have up there sleeve.
there adsense checks are really reliable so that’s all I care about lol
I agree with u sara
thanks for the info your site is always a pleasure to read.