NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] WSJ vs. Google
An admin note and a comment: A couple of people asked me after initially seeing the WSJ piece last night, that appeared to claim that Google was abandoning Network Neutrality, why I sent it through to NNSquad while *not* including any sort of comment admitting -- based on that article -- that "Google was evil and duplicitous" as the Journal seemed to imply. I included no comment at all since I could not reasonably ascertain exactly what the Journal was talking about in the context of their "Google busting network neutrality" slant in the piece. The assertion by the Journal just didn't seem to make sense. Since the WSJ piece was already in wide circulation and was obviously relevant to NNSquad merely by existing (however inaccurate its implications), I sent through the reference but withheld personal comment until I could get more information, which was forthcoming rapidly, as we've seen. I'm especially disappointed in WSJ for their attempt in this case to obscure the differences between simple colocation and network neutrality, and trying to imply that since other firms may have lost their enthusiasm for network neutrality, that must mean (so the Journal suggests) that Google has similarly lost their way on this crucial topic. I won't attempt here to determine whether the Journal's take on this topic was the result of misunderstanding or purposeful bias. But I will note that it has become standard operating procedure for anti-net-neutrality forces to use erroneous arguments such as "NN requires every packet to be handled exactly the same way" -- or "If anyone can buy faster performance compared with anyone else, that's a violation of NN" -- and similar nonsense. Key aspects of network neutrality include the lack of anticompetitive discrimination (and a lack of associated pricing inequities for the same services), and transparency in data transport, among other important factors. Network neutrality does not mean that nobody can buy faster services than anyone else, but does require that everybody have a fair shot at services without discriminatory pricing -- and it requires that legitimate and honest customers should be confident that their data will be transported without being subjected to intrusive and undesired blocking, manipulation, or monitoring by ISPs, particularly on a non-opt-in basis. --Lauren-- NNSquad Moderator