Of course, that assumes the telcos are actually worried about an antitrust suit. It's not quite the same threat as using eminent domain to take over telco assets, but it could have the same overall impact: scaring the telcos straight. Now that it looks like there won't be net neutrality language in any new telco bills, Google is making it clear that if it finds out a telco is trying to break net neutrality, it might just file antitrust charges against that telco. Back when the telcos were threatening to charge Google extra to reach their subscribers, some people suggested that Google should call the telcos' bluff and tell them they wouldn't pay - which is pretty much exactly what happened. The net neutrality battle continues to take its inevitable twists and turns. Techdirt's Mike wishes Google good-luck-with-that: In the meantime, Google has indicated that if in fact the bill passes without strong net neutrality protections, it will corral its resources for a big antitrust fight. Moreover, overlooked in all the press reports and blog posts and carryings-on about the Senate bill is the fact that only one person in the Senate can kill this legislation through filibuster unless sponsor Ted Stevens (R-AK) can convince 60 Senators to end debate on it. Crockett is right on target when he says that it’s going to be very, very difficult to get a bill out this session. Business Week’s Roger Crockett has this piece today entitled “Senate Scorecard: AT&T 1, Google 0,”. The scorecards are being tallied, with the early handicapping in favor of broadband providers. then we will simply have to wait until something bad happens, and then we will make known our case to the Department of Justice's antitrust division."Ĭynthia Brumfield sees a rocky legislative road ahead for broadband providers: If we are not successful in our arguments. If they do not put it in, we will be less happy, but then we will have to wait and see whether or not there actually is any abuse. Vint Cerf, a Google vice president and one of the pioneers of the Internet, said. if high-speed Internet providers abuse the market power they could receive from U.S. warned yesterday that it will not hesitate to file antitrust complaints in the U.S.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |