Net neutrality fans lose on Capitol Hill

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Google's profits

This discussion is about increasing the speed of video downloads. The telcos want to set up special pipes for the purpose, and be paid by those who use those pipes to increase the popularity of the service, and thus their profits.

The companies who expect major financial gains from faster video service, such as Google, do not want to pay anything extra for the service that increases their profits. Instead, they want the cost to be shared by all internet users somehow, so that the amount of revenue they retain is larger.

The question for legislators is, do they want the increased profits to fund increasing capacity or on Google's bottom line?
They appear to have chosen assuring the telcos receive the revenues needed to justify additional investment.

Seems sensible, except...

The telcos are themselves or via partners going to be selling video. They can gain competitive advantage by overcharging their competitors. Some regulation of pricing is needed to assure that Google, for instance, isn't driven out of the market.

You have no true role this debate, except as the source of money. It's large companies arguing through Congress about how profits are to be divvied.

Philosophical principles brought to the discussion can and are being manipulated to favor a result which is higher profits for Google and less investment in capacity. This is one of the cases in which the only effect of a decision that matters is financial.

Posted by: Anton Philidor   Posted on: 03/28/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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