Google Calls Out Verizon

BAM! The words ain't minced in this post about the 700Mhz spectrum, which as I have covered in the past, is turning into a major fight between Google and the telcos. Check this post on Google's public policy blog:

Just three weeks ago, Verizon filed a lawsuit against the FCC, seeking to overturn the FCC's attempt to bring Internet-style consumer choice via the 700 MHz auction. In a recent court filing, the company has also threatened to have next January's auction itself halted unless the consumer choice provisions are eliminated. Now come various news reports suggesting that Verizon is lobbying behind the scenes (and in apparent violation of FCC rules) to once again convince the FCC to water down key aspects of the pro-consumer rule provisions.

In the usually bloated legalese of lobbying and politics, this is a major calling out.

• Posted by John Battelle at 7:52 PM
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AT&T; Update

AT&T has responded to the recent blogstorm about its TOS, interesting to see that the policies they promulgate came in part from their deal with Yahoo. But it's good to see the company respond quickly and clearly.

The company has sent me this statement:

AT&T respects its subscribers’ rights to voice their opinions and concerns over any matter they wish. However, we retain the right to disassociate ourselves from websites and messages explicitly advocating violence, or any message that poses a threat to children (e.g. child pornography or exploitation). We do not terminate customer service solely because a customer speaks negatively about AT&T. (my emphasis)

This policy is not new and it’s not unique to AT&T.

As a result of our recent mergers, we have simply incorporated language from the AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet Terms of Service into the Terms of Service for our legacy Worldnet and BellSouth customers. The language is consistent with that of previous documents for those companies, and is equally consistent with former AT&T and its legacy companies’ policies.

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:34 AM
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Dem GoogleNets

(image) Om Malik is at his best writing about infrastructure and why it matters. Check this out:

In order to build this leviathan enterprise, Google will have to continue to build its back-end systems at a rapid clip, but more importantly, it will also have to keep investing a copious of money to control the oxygen of the New Net Economy: bandwidth....

....The latest news from the telecom world is that Google is now looking to get into the transoceanic cable business. Transoceanic cables sit at the bottom of the sea, using capacities that run into the terabits per second to connect countries around the world.

This is also being reported at D.

• Posted by John Battelle at 3:51 PM
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Google - Doubleclick - Are We Worried Yet?

(emdot photo credit) The Google-Doubleclick merger is not yet complete. While it seems likely that the merger will go through, it's not a layup - the FTC in late May took the process to "second request" phase. And not surprisingly, in response Google has been quite active lately with regards to the policy issues that frame the FTC's decision (more on the process in my coverage here).

The most recent sign? A post on Google's public policy blog, pointing to Google's public comments on the FTC's Town Hall meeting on the subject of online advertising, to be held in early November.

The big elephant in the room? Privacy. And, FOG. (Fear of Google). From Google's post:

Of course, we continue to focus our attention on the privacy of our users, and privacy ought to be an important component of the Town Hall. We recognize that user, advertiser, and website publisher trust is critical to the success of our business, and we've taken a number of recent steps to help bolster our already strong privacy policies. We also think our acquisition of DoubleClick provides an opportunity for us to bolster privacy even further. (emphasis mine)

Well, this won't help (from ars):

The Electronic Privacy Information Center has questioned the adequacy of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Privacy Framework, the same framework Google proposed last week that should serve as the basis for international privacy standards.

This on the heels of further EPIC and other group's opposition, detailed here.

Past coverage of the story here.

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:58 AM
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What if Google Were Evil? Doctorow Asks in Fiction

BB pal Cory Doctorow has published a short story on the theme of Google as evildoer. The opening scene imagines Google services used by the Department of Homeland Security.

The interrogator in the secondary screening room was an older man, so skinny he looked like he'd been carved out of wood. His questions went a lot deeper than shrooms.

"Tell me about your hobbies. Are you into model rocketry?"

"What?"

"Model rocketry."

"No," Greg said, "No, I'm not." He sensed where this was going.

The man made a note, did some clicking. "You see, I ask because I see a heavy spike in ads for rocketry supplies showing up alongside your search results and Google mail."

Greg felt a spasm in his guts. "You're looking at my searches and e-mail?" He hadn't touched a keyboard in a month, but he knew what he put into that search bar was likely more revealing than what he told his shrink.

"Sir, calm down, please. No, I'm not looking at your searches," the man said in a mocking whine. "That would be unconstitutional. We see only the ads that show up when you read your mail and do your searching. I have a brochure explaining it. I'll give it to you when we're through here."

"But the ads don't mean anything," Greg sputtered. "I get ads for Ann Coulter ring tones whenever I get e-mail from my friend in Coulter, Iowa!"

The man nodded. "I understand, sir. And that's just why I'm here talking to you. Why do you suppose model rocket ads show up so frequently?"

It gets far richer from there...

• Posted by John Battelle at 9:15 AM
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