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(credit to Interperetivist Clog)
As the New York Times’ David Pogue put succinctly in his article, Apple may have stepped in it by rejecting Google’s "Google Voice" application from their App Store. Speculation abounds, but many feel AT&T put the kibosh on the application - highlighting the dangers mobile device manufacturer’s face when tethering themselves to cellular service providers.
With the FCC launching their own investigation into this mess, Google has apparently moved on. They are now said to be developing a web version of the Google Voice service, which will offer the same functionality through the iPhone’s Safari browser. This comes as no surprise, as they did the same thing with their Google Latitude application.
All of this only further serves to highlight the importance of net neutrality, something I have been passionate about for a number of years. Internet service providers want desperately to filter content, giving preferential treatment to those who pay extra for tiered services. They claim that since they own a section of the delivery mechanism (the “end of the pipe,” as it were) they should be able to control what passes through those pipes.
If net neutrality is not supported, services like this from Google, Yahoo, Amazon.com, even salesforce.com – could be significantly crippled, devastating the productivity of hundreds millions of people around the world in both their personal and professional lives.
I take the view that the Internet was originally built with public money, and is continually supported with both public tax dollars and ISP subscription fees. If the ISPs can’t get their act together to make a profit at the rates they charge, then they should raise their rates to a level the market will still support – not suppress everyone else with draconian law.
