Google after the bell for 8-23-06: Net netrality gets new angle from Google exec

Google shares closed down to $373.43, a decline of $4.86 or 1.28% from Tuesday's market close. With Google vigorously defending net neutrality -- not for itself, but for potential smaller businesses o the fringe of the Internet -- it seems as though Google *may* be talking a little, slight or tiny hypocritical stance here. Are you sure that Google does not want network neutrality to become a forgotten memory for itself?

The company stands to lose billions, potentially, if access to advertisers is malformed or if customers stop using Google for searches and, of course, everything else Google offers. I doubt any of this would happen. If Google were forced to charge for some of its services due to the abolishment of net neutrality, would you pay? For email? For searches? For maps? Ditto for Yahoo, MSN, Ask.com, etc.

This sounds like a goofy analogy, but then, so is the lobby effort by the large telecom firms who apparently want you, the consumer, to pay -- again -- for the networks that 1) are already built, but are being upgraded and 2) for access to a "data pipe" that you, as a consumer, are already paying for. The last time I looked, Internet access was not free (with some exceptions like hotels and unsecure hotspots from your neighbor's house).

Brian White has worked in various executive positions in technology and telecommunications and now focuses on editing and writing.