facebook rss twitter

Web CEOs lobby FCC over net neutrality

by Sylvie Barak on 20 October 2009, 15:03

Tags: Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qaujv

Add to My Vault: x

"Legalise it!" say Web moguls

In the latest chapter of the big brouhaha over net neutrality, Google and its band of merry men, including CEOs from Facebook, Amazon, Twitter and Craigslist, have written to the FCC firmly declaring their support for the proposed regulations.

Google's gang sent its support to FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski , yesterday, staking their claim that "an open Internet fuels a competitive and efficient marketplace, where consumers make the ultimate choices about which products succeed and which fail."

The letter shows just how diametrically opposed the Internet moguls are to the big telecoms like AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon who have gone on record against net neutrality regulations.

Whereas Google and co say net neutrality "allows businesses of all sizes, from the smallest start-up to larger corporations, to compete, yielding maximum economic growth and opportunity," the naysayers maintain the regulations would hurt investment in cable and telephone networks.

The CEOs - including Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Craig Newmark, of Craigslist, Mark Zuckerberg, of Facebook, Eric Schmidt, of Google, Barry Diller of IAC, Josh Silverman of Skype, Evan Williams of Twitter and Steve Chen of YouTube - wrote it was their belief that firm net neutrality laws would kickstart innovation, as firms wouldn't have to worry about their apps being blocked by a bigger rival.

Whether or not the letter makes an impact on a debate which has now been raging for over three years, however, remains to be seen.