BF2S Forums Rumored Google-Verizon Deal Could End Net Neutrality

Surgeons wrote:

Google wouldn't do that, they're all for improving the internet experience via free products...

Take the wifi network they built for example.

http://wifi.google.com/city/mv/apmap.html

Macbeth wrote:

If Google and Verizon really are conspiring to kill Net neutrality, as several reports suggest, both companies would bruise their reputations in the process.


Word of a deal or near-complete negotiations between Google and Verizon appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, Politico and Bloomberg, each publication citing anonymous sources. The stories all present slightly different versions of the facts, but they generally agree that Net neutrality -- the idea that all Internet traffic is treated equally -- would erode.


The New York Times' version is the most terrifying, claiming that Internet companies, such as Google, would be able to pay a fee to Verizon for faster delivery speeds on services like YouTube. If Verizon extended these kinds of deals to other companies, consumers could choose to pay more for these faster services in a premium package, says the Times.


All the reports note that the agreement wouldn't apply to mobile phones, meaning Verizon would be able to manage traffic as it pleases, with no intervention from Google.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/202637/r … ?tk=hp_blg
Doesn't seem like that big a deal to me. If google has the money to pay Verizon to get their content to people faster then other websites fine by me. Seems kinda meh but I know some of you here are gonna go crazy over this.

Phone and cable TV companies  that provide Internet access should be barred from slowing down, blocking or charging to prioritize Internet traffic flowing over their regular broadband lines, Verizon Communications Inc. and Google Inc. said in a policy statement released Monday.

But the companies left room for broadband providers to charge extra to route traffic from premium services such as remote medical monitoring and smart-grid controls over dedicated networks that are separate from the public Internet.

Verizon and Google laid out their vision in a policy proposal that they hope can serve as a framework for Congress and the Federal Communications Commission in drafting so-called "network neutrality" rules. Such rules are meant to ensure that phone and cable providers cannot favor their own services or discriminate against Internet phone calls, online video and other Web services that compete with their core businesses.

Although broadband providers such as Verizon and Internet-content companies such as Google are at opposite ends in the increasingly bitter debate over such rules, the two companies have been in talks for months to try to identify common ground.

Their proposal comes just days after the FCC declared an impasse in negotiations to craft an industry-wide compromise on the thorny issue. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is seeking to adopt net-neutrality rules that would ensure that broadband subscribers could readily access all legal online content, applications, services and devices.

The proposal from Google and Verizon would give the FCC authority to enforce those rules for wired networks by prohibiting broadband providers from discriminating against or favoring Internet traffic. The proposal would allow the agency to impose a penalty of up to $2 million on companies that violate the rules. Wireless carriers, which have more capacity constraints, would not be subject to the restrictions, although they would have to disclose their network management practices.

In a conference call with reporters, Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said their proposal would preserve the openness of the Internet, but still give phone and cable TV companies room to experiment with "managed" services that could send video, games and other bandwidth-hungry applications over separate systems.