Google And Verizon Announce... Um... Something That Appears To Mean Nothing

from the carry-on dept

If you read the tech news, you certainly saw today's reports of a announced deal between Google and Verizon over net neutrality. The two companies outlined the "proposal" on their own website, and it basically looks like exactly what was discussed last week, despite vehement (and, at times, mocking) denials by the CEOs of both companies about last week's reports. This isn't a "deal," so much as a "proposal," and by "proposal," they seem to mean "vague assertions that don't mean much." The crux of it seems to be that Google and Verizon agree that traffic shouldn't be tiered on your everyday internet, but it's fine on some new not-really-the-internet network, as well as wireless networks (where much of the world is moving anyway). It's not hard to see how this is really about leaving lots of loopholes open for both companies, but I'm still trying to figure out if this announcement means anything. It's a framework for the FCC, but it's not clear that the FCC will use it or should use it. Even if they do, I keep reading through it to find out what's different from the way things are now, and I can't find anything. It seems to be a proposal that says "here's the way things already stand" in new language. So, frankly, I can't see reasons to be upset or happy about this, because it's not saying much of anything.

Filed Under: net neutrality
Companies: google, verizon