Οι «δαίμονες» Google και Verizon θέλουν να ελέγξουν το internet

Φωτιές έχει ανάψει από χθες σε όλο το  ίντερνετ η αποκάλυψη της Wall Street Journal, για μυστική συνάντηση  του συνιδρυτή της Google Sergey Brin με τον CEO της Verizon, του μεγαλύτερου mobile παροχέα internet στις ΗΠΑ, με σκοπό να ελέγξουν το διαδίκτυο. Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες, η μυστική συμφωνία θα επιτρέπει στην Verizon να δίνει σε επιλεγμένους πελάτες προτεραιότητα στο διαδίκτυο και υψηλότερες ταχύτητες. 

Με αυτό τον τρόπο θα δημιουργήσουν ένα ιντερνετ δύο ταχυτήτων. Οσοι πληρώνουν και οι μεγάλες εταιρίες θα έχουν άλλη ταχύτητα πρόσβασης στις υπηρεσίες και όσες εταιρίες θα μπουν στο τραστ θα εξασφαλίσουν για τους αναγνώστες τους γρηγορότερη πρόσβαση στα προϊόντα τους. Πρώτα θύματα της συμφωνίας όλες οι εταιρίες απεικόνισης βίντεο έναντι του youtube της Google. 

H Verizon ήδη έδωσε ταχύτερη πρόσβαση στο youTube. Από την άλλη πλευρά, η Αμερικανική Επιτροπή Τηλεπικοινωνιών FCC ανακοίνωσε πως οποιαδήποτε ενέργεια που θα πλήξει την ελευθερία του διαδικτύου είναι απαράδεκτη. Google και Verizon διαψεύδουν τις φήμες μετά τον σάλο που προέκυψε. New York Times και
Bloomberg επιβεβαιώνουν το ρεπορτάζ  της Wall Street Journal και όλο το διαδίκτυο βρίσκεται σε αναβρασμό. Ηδη τα αφεντικά της Google και Verizon καταγράφονται ως evil δυνάμεις και έτσι προέκυψε και η σχετική φωτογραφία που τους «δαιμονοποιεί»

Διαβάστε εδώ την μέχρι τώρα εξέλιξη της υπόθεσης:

UPDATE: Google Public Policy has denied the reports via Twitter. We're attempting to contact someone at Google for more details.

UPDATE (2): Google has responded to our request for comment via email with a very clear denial of the New York Times story:

The NYT is quite simply wrong. We have not had any conversations with Verizon about paying for carriage of Google or YouTube traffic. We remain as committed as we always have been to an open Internet.

UPDATE (3): Bloomberg is now reporting that Google and Verizon have been talking, but with a different focus:

Verizon Communications Inc. and Google Inc. have struck their own accord on handling Internet traffic, as both participate in talks by U.S. officials on Web policy, two people briefed by the companies said.

The compromise as described would restrict Verizon from selectively slowing Internet content that travels over its wires, but wouldn't apply such limits to Internet use on mobile phones, according to the people, who spoke yesterday and asked not to be identified before an announcement.

UPDATE (4): Now Verizon has also made a statement that rebuts the Times report:

The NYT article regarding conversations between Google and Verizon is mistaken. It fundamentally misunderstands our purpose. As we said in our earlier FCC filing, our goal is an Internet policy framework that ensures openness and accountability, and incorporates specific FCC authority, while maintaining investment and innovation. To suggest this is a business arrangement between our companies is entirely incorrect.

UPDATE (5): The Washington Post and Politico have their own takes, both of which support the take that Google and Verizon have come to some sort of net neutrality agreement.

UPDATE (6): Concerning that Bloomberg report, Google spokesperson Mistique Cano said in an email that "We have no announcement at this point." Which is a far cry from the outright denial they shot at the NYT, and a possible indicator that that's the real story here: that Google and Verizon have reached a deal not to selectively slow traffic over wires, but that mobile is fair game.

UPDATE (7):The Wall Street Journal has weighed in now and is reporting with the Times:

People briefed on the tentative agreement, however, said it could provide a framework for legislation that would codify some of the Federal Communications Commission's net-neutrality principles. It would, however, allow phone and cable companies to offer faster, priority delivery of Internet traffic for companies that pay extra for the service, these people said.

It's notable that the Google denial says very specifically that Google has not had discussions about paying for carriage of Google and YouTube. But that doesn't mean they haven't spoken with Verizon about creating a framework that would undermine net neutrality generally. The WSJ report seems to support that interpretation.

UPDATE (8):One last (hopefully) point that may have gotten swallowed up: the one thing that everyone agrees on here is that there are definitely negotiations going on between Verizon and Google, and that the FCC is overseeing the process. How it all shakes out, especially after the response to conflicting reports, remains to be seen.

UPDATE (9): And now FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has weighed in:

Any outcome, any deal that doesn't preserve the freedom and openness of the Internet for consumers and entrepreneurs will be unacceptable.

UPDATE (10): The NY Times has given us the following emailed statement:

We stand by our reporting which is based on information from sources in a position to know about the conversations. Google's comment about The New York Times story refutes something The Times story didn't say.

There's a lot of murkiness here, both in the wording of the original Times story and the statements from both Google and Verizon. Again: talks are in progress between the two companies, and we should (hopefully) know what comes of them sooner than later.