Guess Who’s Now Saying Government Could “Screw the Internet Up”? October 23rd, 2009
Regina Hopper

Rather than backing the FCC’s march toward a government-managed Internet—Google CEO Eric Schmidt chose yesterday to sound the alarms about broader government intervention.  Maybe it’s fair to say that Google has realized the likely consequences of a greater government role in the day-to-day operations of the Internet.

“It is possible for the government to screw the Internet up, big-time.” That is what Schmidt told the Washington Post in an interview yesterday.  This comes just days after he put his name on a letter to Chairman Genachowski that stated, “America’s leadership in the technology space has been due, in large part, to the open Internet … we applaud your leadership in initiating a process to develop rules to ensure that the qualities that have made the Internet so successful are protected.”  Those of us who support an open Internet, but oppose government managing online innovation welcome Google’s new cautionary warning.

Consumers, our economy and American innovation would all be better served if players across the Internet ecosystem worked together as a dynamic and collaborative industry.  A binary world of “dumb pipes” and “smart applications,” as Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg passionately argued this week, only hinders the Internet’s future potential for all of us.

It’s an encouraging sign for a constructive, workable path forward that Google, the company with the famous mantra “don’t be evil,” is now raising concerns about the burdens we all would bear if the government overreaches with new regulations.  Is it a game-changer

This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 1:10 pm and is filed under Benefits of Broadband, Industry News, Net Regulation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.