Net Neutrality Update: The Google/Verizon Proposal

Submitted by Holly on Thu, 08/12/2010 - 11:33am
Like what you read?

Stay current with nonprofit technology

When last we tuned in to the soap opera that IS the net neutrality debate, the fate of our Internet had been left in the hands of FCC Chairman Genachowski, who had architected a process he hoped would lead to some action. Things weren't moving quickly, but they were moving, and down a definable path. (Thanks to the nearly 500 NTEN community members who signed the nonprofit petition!)

On August 4, the New York Times broke the bombshell that Verizon and Google were meeting about net neutrality to broker their own proposal. Then, on August 9, Google and Verizon took a left turn, and announced their own joint proposal for an "open internet." It looks like the empahsis should be on the "an."

The proposal does call for one layer of open internet access, but it also allows for carriers to manage wireLESS access in an unrestricted manner. All that data you send and receive on your phone? Under the proposed rubric, it maybe not so much be subject to the same net neutrality rules.

Google and Verizon have taken a lot of heat, from the public and the FCC Commissioners. That may be what prompted a response from Google on their Public Policy Blog today. ReadWriteWeb author Marshall Kirkpatrick recently posted on his Twitter account that he generally buys Google's defense. 

We buy it too -- in one sense. We believe that Google is just trying to move a very contentious issue forward: give the carriers a concession, and maybe we can get some protection for net neutrality in place, finally.

What we DON'T buy is that this proposal is a viable solution. The internet is the internet, no matter how it's delivered, and it should all be protected under network neutrality. We can't afford to compromise on that, especially as mobile devices make wireless networks more important every day.

So what can you do? A couple of things: