Protest Google's Deal with Verizon

Big news: according to reports, Google is about to cut a terrible deal
with Verizon that would end the fair, open Internet as we know it.1

The reported Google-Verizon deal would allow giant corporations to control
which websites load quickly and easily on the Internet and dump everyone
else onto an Internet slow lane. This is exactly the kind of unequal
playing field that Google itself has opposed in the past.2

We only have a few days to stop it, so we're launching a grassroots
protest calling on Google to scuttle the deal. Will you sign our
emergency petition to Google?

The petition says: "Google: Say no to the reported agreement with
Verizon to kill Net Neutrality and the open Internet."

The Internet was founded on the principle that all data is equal--and
that
no corporation should be able to decide whose data goes faster or
slower.
It's this principle, called Net Neutrality, that has made the Internet
such an amazing platform for individual speech, democratic action, and
entrepreneurial creativity.3

And until now, Google--which uses the corporate motto "Don't Be
Evil"--has
been a staunch defender of Net Neutrality.4 But now, Google is
threatening
to turn the Internet into a closed, pay-to-play, cash cow for large
corporations. This move is evil, and Google knows it.

Here's why this is a big deal. President Obama's new Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) chair initially came out strong for Net
Neutrality, in line with the President's campaign promises.5 But the big
telecom companies launched a lobbying frenzy, and soon the FCC was
meeting
with them behind closed doors.

Because Google and Verizon are two powerhouse corporations that have
historically been on opposite sides of this issue, an agreement between
them will put enormous pressure on the FCC to go along with their
recommendations. Essentially, two giant corporations may be deciding the
future of the Internet--if the Obama administration goes along, and if
the
public doesn't push back right away. Click here to help stop them now:

http://pol.moveon.org/google/?id=22362-17420644-nT9cdfx&t=14

Google was once a champion on this issue--Google chief executive Eric
Schmidt once attacked "phone and cable monopolies" who "want the power
to
choose who gets access to high-speed lanes and whose content gets seen
first and fastest."6

But today's news stories report that under the new deal, Verizon could
be
allowed to give some sites preferential treatment. Even more ominously,
it
appears that Verizon would have free rein to discriminate on the mobile
Internet (smartphones, cell phones, etc). Since that's where most people
will access the Net going forward, this would essentially spell the end
of
Net Neutrality.

Google has issued a short, carefully worded statement challenging some
of
the details in The New York Times story, but it hasn't denied that it is
going along with this agreement to kill Net Neutrality.7 So much for
"Don't be evil." Will you sign our petition today and tell Google not to
be evil on Net Neutrality?

http://pol.moveon.org/google/?id=22362-17420644-nT9cdfx&t=15

Thanks for all you do.

--Kat, Justin, Carrie, Steven, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Google and Verizon Near Deal on Web Pay Tiers," The New York Times,
August 5, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/technology/05secret.html

2. "Google Just Killed Net Neutrality," Gizmodo, August 5, 2010
http://gizmodo.com/5605310/google-just-killed-net-neutrality

3. "Network Neutrality Fact Sheet," Common Cause, April 6, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=87794&id=22362-17420644-nT9cdfx&t=16

4. Google Investor Relations: Code of Conduct, accessed August 5, 2010
http://investor.google.com/corporate/code-of-conduct.html

5. "FCC Chair Proposes Net Neutrality Rules," Digital Daily, September
21,
2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=87795&id=22362-17420644-nT9cdfx&t=17

6. "Google Just Killed Net Neutrality," Gizmodo, August 5, 2010
http://gizmodo.com/5605310/google-just-killed-net-neutrality

7. "Google Denies Priority Internet Access Deal With Verizon," PC
Magazine, August 5, 2010
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2367436,00.asp

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References

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.. http://investor.google.com/corporate/code-of-conduct.html
.. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=87795&id=22362-17420644-nT9cdfx&t=17
.. http://gizmodo.com/5605310/google-just-killed-net-neutrality
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