August 16, 2010 by William Peebles
A group of unhappy internet users have gathered in California to hold a protest outside search engine giant Google’s offices. Approximately one hundred people gathered this week to demonstrate against plans to alter the way in which data is handled over the internet.
Google has proposed to offer people using fixed-line services different internet access to that afforded to wireless users, giving net providers the opportunity to prioritise some users over others. The protesters are concerned that this will create a service where the more people pay, the better their access to web services will be. According to critics of the plan, these proposals will undermine the overriding principles of net neutrality, giving preferential treatment to high payers. Net neutrality is fundamental to UK government broadband plan to provide high speed access to every citizen by 2020.
James Rucker of advocacy group ColorofChange.org made a statement about the plans: “Companies like Google have benefited from a free and open internet and their plan will destroy that. They are talking about producing a fast lane, essentially a higher tier, for premium content that means if you want to play in the 21st Century internet you will have to pay. Whether you are a blogger, an entrepreneur, a journalist or someone trying to organise a community, the internet is precious.”
In response, Nicklas Lundblad, Google’s head of public policy commented: “This is an important issue, a complex issue and it deserves to be discussed. Google is a fierce supporter of an open internet and we see that we have a couple of key enforceable protections in our proposal with Verizon and that is much better than no protections at all. This issue has been at a standstill for quite some time and we think this proposal is a way to advance that discussion.”
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