Network Neutrality Defenders Quietly Backing Off?

SteveOHT writes "Google Inc. has approached major cable and phone companies that carry Internet traffic with a proposal to create a fast lane for its own content, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Google has traditionally been one of the loudest advocates of equal network access for all content providers. The story claims that Microsoft, Yahoo, and Amazon have quietly withdrawn from a coalition of companies and groups backing network neutrality (the coalition is not named), though Amazon's name is reportedly once again listed on the coalition's Web site. Google has already responded, calling the WSJ story "confused" and explaining that they're only talking about edge caching, and remain as committed as ever to network neutrality. The blogosphere is alight with the debate.

Don't bother reading WSJ for tech

[ipX]

Need I say more? They're grabbing headlines once again for confused reporting.

Re:Don't bother reading WSJ for tech

[Yvanhoe]

I'm glad that Slashdot restores the truth with accurate headlines

Re:google pays

[Hognoxious]

What if you're currently in the middle lane?

Re:Don't bother reading WSJ for tech

[Anonymous Coward]

Not quite sure what the specifics might be - maybe ad revenue based on page hits or something

Woah! That's a brilliant idea! Have you ever considered getting into advertising? You could revolutionize the industry!

Re:Don't bother reading WSJ for tech

[Hognoxious]

You can always rely on slashdot to get the headlines right. You just have to wait until they've tried everything else.

- Winston Churchill.

Re:google pays

[Anonymous Coward]

Because we all know that putting more cars to the road couldn't possibly slow anyone down...

Re:Don't bother reading WSJ for tech

[jonaskoelker]

it definitely is deliberate.

They could just be incompetent.

Re:Net Neutrality only protects the underdog

[Hamoohead]

I will paraphrase an old expression, never under estimate the data bandwidth of a semi-truck sized data center driving two days across country. Think about the number of raw terabytes that can be shipped vs transfered over the backbone.

I think my Gramma used to say that.

And who wants cheap prices anyway?

[bbagnall]

--"At one time, Boeing was not just an airplane manufacturer, but also owned an airline. This meant that Boeing could favor its own airline with newer equipment at cheaper rates, thus giving its airline a cost advantage over other rivals." Yes, lord help us if the consumer actually got cheaper airline tickets. Thank God the government "helped" us by making prices more expensive than they had to be.