On Monday an update was posted to the Google Public Policy Blog. The brevity of the post might lead one to consider it a minor or passing topic. Rather, the topic was the National Broadband Plan and where Google intended to weigh in on the issues being debated. You might also be surprised to learn that the Internet is not a series of tubes but is instead a series of consumers
“To us this has never been about regulatory rigidity but about protecting consumers and keeping the Internet open for innovators. So while we’re not wed to any particular legal theory to justify the FCC’s jurisdiction, we do believe some minimal oversight over broadband networks is essential. ”
(Via Google Public Policy Blog by Rick Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel, Google Inc.)
What one can take away from this post is not so much the picking of battles, as much as it is an acknowledgement of when to enter the battle. For example, the following day’s post reminds everyone of the battle over copyright that Google is very much a part of … almost on a daily basis.
And now via YouTube, a moment to reflect on this series of tubes:
Poor Stephenson. He can't catch a break. First wrongly accused, then basically kicked out of the Senate. And now, the worst of all – vilified in this post! That tubes reference will go down in infamy.