Google Pushes Into Washington

From the LA Times:

Its employees supported Obama, and four Googlers served on his transition team. Now the Internet giant hopes to win support for network neutrality and expanding high-speed Internet access.

Of course, Google is not just hanging out in Washington for purely humanitarian reasons. Both these goals will benefit Google in the long run. A quick look at both:

Network Neutrality

Network neutrality is basically the maintenance of things the way they are: When it comes to an ISP feeding the customer, no website's data streams get preference or get in the way of any other. If this is not solidified quickly, providers all over the US could jump in together and begin extorting all the big boys. "Everyone slows down. You pay $x, we keep your stream flowing to the customer. If not, they might just go somewhere else. Capice?"

Google, being the 800lb. gorilla, stands to pay the most from this shady practice. But it's bad for everyone. The big boys pay up and every small business site is suddenly dealing with degraded data getting to their potential customer. Smaller entities lose, as well as the consumer.

Expansion of High-Speed Service

This is a no-brainer. More access means more customers to use Google's services.

But it's also important because the connectivity many of us take for granted, the opportunities we have because of the availability of the internet is absent from much of American life in areas of lower socio-economic status. Grow the infrastructure there, present more opportunity, and you provide a potential solution for anyone who is willing to grab it and run.

Interestingly, the Pope made a plea for just this thing in his comments about Social Communication released the other day.


While Google is using it's power and proximity to ultimately get what it wants, I don't believe its goals are so different from our own. And it's nice to have the 800lb. gorilla on our side for once.