Net Neutrality vs. Common Carrier Laws

1. Net Neutrality vs. Common Carrier Laws Is Google being Hypocritical?

2. Google Voice: an overview • Google explains their service 1 & 2 • Redirecting calls through the internet • Grouping all separate numbers under just one GOOGLE# Home Work Cell Receiving Connecting

3. Common Carriers and Phone Rates • AT&T as a common long distance carrier has to pay the fees for rural Local Exchange Carriers under common carrier laws. • Google pays regular rates and simply refuses to connect to rural LECs. • All long distance calls made in the United States operate on an inter-carrier payment scheme, where one carrier collects money from a customer, and then pays another carrier to receive that call. • Free conference call services try to locate their services in places where the recipient carrier charges a higher rate than the average, and then receive a share of the revenue that the recipient carrier earns.

4. Charges for Connection: Traffic Pumping • Local Exchange Carriers are paid access fees by Long Distance Carriers • Some of the Rural LECs are allowed to charge more money based on the cost of setting up the infrastructure and the small amount of traffic. • Rural LECs bolster their traffic by partnering with high-traffic phone services. 1 cent/minute 20 cents/minute AT&T LEC AT&T Rural LEC + High Traffic Phone Services 10 cents/minute AT&T Rural LEC

5. Net Neutrality vs. Common Carrier • The FCC’s statement (what AT&T is citing) on Net Neutrality is: The Communications Act charges the Commission with “regulating interstate and foreign commerce in communication by wire and radio.” The Communications Act regulates telecommunications carriers, as common carriers, under Title II. Information service providers, “by contrast, are not subject to mandatory common-carrier regulation under Title II.” The Commission, however, “has jurisdiction to impose additional regulatory obligations under its Title I ancillary jurisdiction to regulate interstate and foreign communications.” As a result, the Commission has jurisdiction necessary to ensure that providers of telecommunications for Internet access or Internet Protocol-enabled (IP-enabled) services are operated in a neutral manner.

6. Google as a Supporter of Net Neutrality • Encouraging FCC to open “white spaces” in television broadcasting to the public. • Genachowski’s plan to keep the internet open is backed by Google.

7. Google Corporate Strategy • Opinion on Google diversification: “Google’s strategy is to control as much information as possible, so that people will be forced to use its services.” • “One of the most obvious ways is via targeted advertising, particularly because the company recently announced that it's going to figure out new ways to target ads based on your interests. It already does this with Gmail. So don't be surprised to see ads targeted based on who calls you.”

8. Comments • “No, what we're getting in infighting between the range-of-the-moment pragmatists angling to benefit from the latest example of stifling government interference.” • “The phone companies have a mandate to provide specific services to the consumer. Google wants to be a phone company, but not adhere to those same principals.” • “Google is NOT a phone company in any way shape or form. That is why AT&T is not telling the FCC that Google is breaking phone laws, they are dragging net neutrality into it.”

9. Questions for Consideration • Is AT&T just angry because they MUST pay the LEC costs and Google does not? • Do you think Google is on its way to becoming a Long Distance Carrier? • Is it fair for Google to block certain phone numbers and calls from its service? • Do you think the rural phone services Google is blocking should be reprimanded for their unfair partnerships to make more money?