Google: Bill Could Lead to Antitrust Complaints

Google, the world’s leading search engine, on Tuesday said it will not think twice about filing antitrust complaints in the United States against providers of high-speed Internet access, should those firms attempt to throw their weight around under new legislation that could grant them the ability to charge some parties more than others for preferential treatment of Web traffic, Reuters reports.

Just last week, a U.S. Senate committee shot down a proposal that would’ve forced high-speed broadband Internet providers, like Comcast and AT&T, to offer the same Web-surfing speeds and access to their competitors as they offer to their partners and themselves, striking a significant blow to proponents of the principle of net neutrality, or an unregulated Internet.

Vint Cerf, a vice president with Google and Internet pioneer, told a press conference on Tuesday, “If the legislators insist on net neutrality, we will be happy. If they do not put it in, we will be less happy, but then we will have to wait and see whether or not there actually is any abuse,” according to Reuters.

“If we are not successful in our arguments … then we will simply have to wait until something bad happens and then we will make known our case to the Department of Justice’s antitrust division,” Cerf said, according to Reuters.

Regardless of consistent lobbying on the part of telecommunications firms, it’s unclear whether a final law will be made official this year, due in part to the upcoming November elections and the resulting small number of days in session for Congress, Reuters reports.

Should the bill pass the full Senate, it would still need to be tailored to fit in with another bill OK’d by the House of Representatives, according to Reuters.

“My company along with many others believes that the Internet should stay open and accessible to everyone equally,” Cerf said, according to Reuters.

Related Links:

• Groups Push Alternate Net Neutrality Proposals

• Telecommunications Company Pressures Employees to Lobby Against Net Neutrality

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