Yesterday’s Google-Verizon joint statement on an “open internet” has generated a plethora of related news stories, as indicated by this snapshot of yesterday’s Techmeme links for the topic:
Few, if any, of these stories suggest that the joint statement portends anything good for consumers. Many are highly critical, with a few of my favorites being:
Wired’s Why Google Became A Carrier-Humping, Net Neutrality Surrender Monkey.
Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig’s writeup in the New York Times: Another Deregulation Debacle.
Dan Gillmor’s Google-Verizon plan: Why you should worry
Google has done a lot of good, and has generously made a lot of products freely available. In fact, I am typing this within their Chrome, and one of the other open tabs in my browser is Gmail.
But, I have never taken their “Do No Evil” mantra seriously, and now a lot of other people are beginning to question it, too.
(A company is the sum of what it does, not some bullshit mantra, especially one that shouldn’t have to even be said … when people tell me that they are good people, I immediately am suspicious of them: why should they have to tell me that unless they have something to hide?)
I do know that I am not looking for the FCC to regulate on our behalf, as it is chartered to do. It has been clear for the past several years that Washington is just a pansy for corporations.
And it seems to be getting worse instead of better. (And now that the Supreme Court has made it legal for corporations to buy elections, it will get even worse.)
Anyway, I wanted you to be aware of what is going on with net neutrality. Some of you have probably read lots about it, others may only be learning of the issues through this post. Either way, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
Update: You should also read Danny Sullivan’s How Google & Apple Sold Out The Cell Phone Revolution. And then take your blood pressure medicine.