Heard the latest? Verizon is trying to make more revenue by charging Google for sending data to their users who are paying them for connectivity. Quite outrageous as the end users are already paying them for connectivity.
Verizon Tries to Hit Google Between the O's:
The Senate Commerce Committee is holding a meeting today to consider whether Web access providers -- the phone and cable companies behind broadband networks -- can charge content providers like Google and Yahoo for speedy delivery of content.
The former, led by the like of Verizon and AT&T, claim Google is getting a free ride (free registration required) off the infrastructure they spend billions of dollars to build and maintain. They charge other companies are stifling the development of better networks by sucking out profits from the middle.
On the other side, consumer advocates have suggested that allowing network operators to charge for certain traffic might restrict the open flow of content and information -- and lead to higher costs for consumers. Vinton Cerf, a founding father of the Internet and now a VP and "chief Internet Evangelist" at Google, shot back at Verizon execs via the Washington Post: "My big concern is that suddenly access providers want to step in the middle of create a toll road to limit customers' ability to get access to services of their choice even though they have paid fo access to the network in the first place."
The debate raises a number of questions about restricting access to information, limiting consumer choice, and so on. Do you think access providers should be rewarded for their infrastructure investments or will their sense of entitlement lead to an Orwellian future?
Telecoms and internet groups clash on charges
The opening shots were fired on Capitol Hill on Tuesday in a legislative battle between the US telecommunications and internet industries that both sides warned could undermine innovation and consumer choice on the internet.
Vint Cerf, one of the early pioneers of internet technology and now chief internet evangelist at Google, called on Congress to pass a law preventing telecoms companies from discriminating between the internet services that are carried over their networks.
But representatives of the dominant US telecoms groups said the high level of investment needed to extend broadband networks meant they should have the power to charge internet companies fees in return for guaranteeing a specific level of service.
The dispute over what has become known as "net neutrality" has erupted over proposals from some of the telecoms companies to start charging extra fees. They argue that to guarantee a high level of service, they need to allocate more bandwidth and give priority to services such as internet video and voice-over-internet calls, and so should be able to charge more.
"Public policy must encourage and reward investment in networks," said Walter McCormick, the head of the US Telecoms Association, at a hearing yesterday of the Senate commerce, science and transportation committee. Telecoms companies would not use discriminatory pricing to "block, impair or degrade content, applications or services", he added.
Under a policy adopted by Michael Powell, former Federal Communications Commission chairman, US regulators have until now prevented telecoms groups from blocking specific internet services that pass over their networks. However, the regulations do not deal with special pricing for guaranteed levels of service.
Lawrence Lessig, a law professor at Stanford University, said that allowing telecoms companies to charge more for carrying certain internet services would mark a retreat from the past 40 years of US telecommunications policy. He and others compared the telecoms companies' proposals to the creation of new commercial "speed lanes" on highways. They would degrade some services by reducing the capacity available to others, making it more difficult for start-up internet companies to find an audience.
