Foundation

Previously in Tech at Night we heard that Google had been accused of violating the FCC’s Open Internet order, also known as Net Neutrality. The stated purpose of Net Neutrality is to prevent ISPs from discriminating between one kind of Internet traffic, and another, in order to bolster its own services.

Google as web services provider was a strong proponent of the new regulations. However in Google’s response to the Net Neutrality complaint, Google has come out in favor of discrimination, asserting that because discrimination against “server” traffic is an industry standard, Google is within its rights to continue that discrimination in the Net Neutrality era. Google, in defending its own Net Neutrality violation, is citing the pre-Net Neutrality industry standards it repeatedly claimed were dangerous and harmful to Americans.

Note that in the same Wired report, we learn that Google plans to release a “business” service, presumably at a higher price, to support servers.

Of course, they’re claiming that they’re within the law, but it’s clear they are not.