What is Net Neutrality?

Don't miss the Financial Times' excellent editorial opposing net neutrality regulation/legislation.

They clearly grasp that net neutrality is not a pressing problem, recognize that net neutrality regulation/legislation would cause unintended consequences, and that regulators are up to the task, if a real problem were in fact to materialize.    

Count me as very impressed and grateful for the innovation focus by Google for improving Internet accessibility for the blind and sight-impaired.

This kind of commitment to focus technology innovation to promote more 'open access' to the Internet for those with sight, hearing or other disabilities can be embraced, and is to be commended, by everyone.

I recommend you read an excellent Sunday New York Times piece by Miguel Helft: "Going where no guide dog can." 

• It profiles Mr. T.V. Raman, a Google computer scientist who is focused on innovations to improve use of the Internet by the blind, the sight impaired, and even sighted people when they cannot see a computer or smartphone screen. 
• It is obvious to see that the many innovations Mr. Raman and Google have produced or facilitiated, eventually will help tens of millions of blind and sight-impaired people around the world gain access to technology and information in ways and amounts that they never could before. Well done.

Precursorblog is on hiatus for vacation.

The content and applications industries have yet to connect-the-dots of the U.S. Department of Justice concluding search advertising is a monopoly and that Google has pro-actively sought to further its monopoly in search advertising and search advertising syndication.  

• The long term implications of this DOJ conclusion are sweeping and profound for content and apps providers.  

Simply, if the DOJ believes Google is a monopoly, then it follows that DOJ would believe it is illegal under antitrust law for Google to proactively disadvantage its competitors’ content/applications by favoring Google-owned content/applications over competitors’ content/applications on Google’s search advertising monopoly platform.

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There are three anti-net neutrality regulation op-eds to note.

The best is in the Wall Street Journal column by Gordon Crovitz "Net Neutrality? Never Mind."

• Mr. Crovitz gets that this is embarassingly misunderstood issue and that there is an essential need to manage networks and incent investment in networks to keep up with the ever-increasing demand for bandwidth.

Stephen Wildstrom of Business Week has an excellent post: "Network Neutrality -- Where's the Beef"  where he brutally gets to the crux of "the problem."

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