Controversy follows Google

As hype envelops Google, the company can't seem to avoid being dragged into one rumor or controversy after another.

Last year, the company was said to be preparing a package of services to steal the productivity applications market out from under Microsoft. A few weeks ago, the rumor mill had Google developing its own PC, which never came to pass - Google is building out nothing more than its red-hot successful, ad-supported content network.

Now the company finds itself fighting a subpoena of its search records and it is being dragged into a telecom debate that has providers such as BellSouth and Verizon pressing for companies such as Google to help share the cost of operating broadband networks by paying for the right to transmit their content, especially bandwidth-hogging applications. The issue is being called network neutrality and in essence it is a toll on Internet users.

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As hype envelops Google, the company can't seem to avoid being dragged into one rumor or controversy after another.

Last year, the company was said to be preparing a package of services to steal the productivity applications market out from under Microsoft. A few weeks ago, the rumor mill had Google developing its own PC, which never came to pass - Google is building out nothing more than its red-hot successful, ad-supported content network.

Now the company finds itself fighting a subpoena of its search records and it is being dragged into a telecom debate that has providers such as BellSouth and Verizon pressing for companies such as Google to help share the cost of operating broadband networks by paying for the right to transmit their content, especially bandwidth-hogging applications. The issue is being called network neutrality and in essence it is a toll on Internet users.

On Thursday, Bill Smith, CTO for BellSouth, reiterated to CBS "MarketWatch" that companies should pay for the privilege of using another company's broadband pipes.

Scott Bradner wrote in his Network World column last week, "In most situations this is called extortion, but the phone companies are asking us to believe that it's a service improvement."

So far, the feds do not agree that it would be an improvement. In March, Madison River Communications took the issue into its own hands by blocking Vonage traffic, an act that netted a $15,000 fine from the FCC.

Recently, Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon, said his company was talking to Google about Internet fees, a conversation that Google denies.

In a statement, the company said it is not discussing the issue of sharing the costs of broadband networks with any carrier. "We believe consumers are already paying to support broadband access to the Internet through subscription fees and, as a result, consumers should have the freedom to use this connection without limitations," the company said.

A national survey released last week by the Consumer Federation of America showed that a majority of people support legislation to keep Internet access freely available.

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