We have often discussed the incredible peril Network Neutrality poses when placed in the hands of government — it’s the incredible economic and First Amendment damage that can (and will) be done by the federal Leviathan once it gets its Net Neutrality tentacles around the World Wide Web. Nearly as pernicious, are the private big companies who benefit from big government generally – and the incredible Big Government power grab that is Net Neutrality specifically.
We’ve heard a little about Netflix – the gigantic pro-Net Neutrality Internet movie delivery company. Netflix is pro-Net Neutrality because Netflix wants grandmothers to pay more to email their grandchildren so that they can continue to use tons and tons of Internet bandwidth to make tons and tons of money – and not pay for it. This is one of the terrible things Net Neutrality does: It prevents Internet Service Providers (ISPs) – the people who spend billions of dollars building and perpetually bettering the highways and byways of the World Wide Web – from charging people who use more bandwidth more money.
Let us disabuse ourselves of a pro-Net Neutrality myth – the Internet Superhighway is not a free ride (nothing, of course, is). Roads cost money, whether to your house or to your computer and Net Neutrality allows some of the biggest riders to do so without paying for the privilege. Net Neutrality outlaws per-use pricing. It’s like telling a grocery store they must charge people purchasing one steak the same price as people purchasing fifty. It’s Socialism for the Internet – and we’ll end up with everyone getting equal amounts of nothing. And as we go down, your Grandma’s – and your, and my – Internet prices shoot skyward so as to subsidize the incredible bandwidth hogs like Netflix and Google.
The titanic Big Search company, of course, relies on lots and lots and lots of access to the Internet Superhighway. Net Neutrality allows them to do so without having to pick up the tab. Google is nowhere near new to the Net Neutrality game. They have been from the outset one of the lead promoters and were mixing with many of the major Leftist players.
There’s the pro-Net Neutrality Media Marxist groups and there’s the $1 million Google in 2006 gave to MoveOn.org. MoveOn.org then:
“…funneled at least $100,000 (in) “Net Neutrality” money to its operations in Pennsylvania (where MoveOn is organizing against Sen. Rick Santorum).”
When recently asked, Google’s Public Policy and Public Affairs spokesman, Adam Kovacevich denied these facts. Then there’s President Barack Obama, who during the 2008 campaign vowed “I will take a backseat to no one in my commitment to Net Neutrality.” And his Federal Communications Commission (FCC) illegally jammed through Net Neutrality last December.
Google former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – and now Chairman – Eric Schmidt has a long-term, up close and personal relationship with President Obama and his Administration. Schmidt’s a big fan: He was a campaign advisor and major donor to Barack Obama, and when he announced he was leaving that perch, he planned to remain “at the forefront of Google’s government relations team.” And Obama even has considered him for Commerce Secretary. That makes this story from the New York Times particularly interesting:
Mr. Schmidt asked that Google remove from the search engine information about a political donation he had made. Sheryl Sandberg, a Google executive who is now Facebook’s chief operating officer, told him that was unacceptable.
Looks like (in addition to absurd leftist politics) Schmidt and Obama have transparency in common, too. Oh, and Google’s top lobbyists ended up with White House gigs. But I thought the Obama Administration and lobbyists were incompatible? Schmidt recently endorsed Round Four (Eight? Eighteen? Eight Hundred?) of Obama’s alleged economic “stimulus” – the ridiculously misnamed “American Jobs Act.” The examples of Google’s leftist words and deeds are like most of their search results – nearly limitless.
Google finally began to realize that all of this had made those to the right of them – which is just about everyone on planet Earth – a mite uncomfortable. Or, perhaps, it was the Federal Trade Commission’s newly launched investigation of them for grossly unfair and illegal trade practices. Or maybe it was the Tea Party, big Republican 2010 election – and from all appearances looming even larger Tea Party, big Republican 2012 election. But thinking it was any of these things would be harshly, coldly cynical.
Why, when you can instead talk a reasonably good free market game (and hire center-right lobbyists aplenty), wouldn’t you go along with your existing cadre of leftist lobbyists? This eleventh hour pseudo-conversion should fool no one. This is your father’s Google. Well, your older sibling’s. It is the same company that gave a million-simoleons to MoveOn.org — the Daddy Warbucks and Godfather of the Net Neutrality push that swam proudly with the pro-Net Neutrality Media Marxists.
The same Google that was and remains President Obama uber-philic, who in return compliantly rammed through Net Neutrality, is going to force you and I to pay for Google’s profuse Internet bandwidth use – so that they don’t have to.
Nothing has changed about Google. Not a thing.
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