Verizon, Google find Net Neutrality common ground

In a dramatic gesture on the eve of the FCC’s Net Neutrality meeting today, Verizon and Google issued a joint statement underscoring their common ground on the controversial issue, to include user control of the Internet experience, flexibility in any regulation and transparency by service providers.

While admitting that the two companies remain far apart on the big issues, Tom Tauke, Verizon’s executive vice president for public affairs, policy and communications said Thursday night that the very fact Google and Verizon can agree on major points is an indication that an industry polarized by the Net Neutrality debate might be able to come together on a solution. Tauke was directly involved in the talks with Google, which have been going on over the past two years.

“They depend on us and we like them,” Tauke said in an interview Thursday. “We still have major areas of disagreement – Verizon thinks we don’t need new rules and that wireless networks shouldn’t be included and Google wants rules and wireless included. But we think this statement will demonstrate that this is not all polarization.”

As a result, Tauke said, he would like to see “some of the people who actually run networks at the table, Google at the table and the legal people at the table” discussing any potential new rules.

The points on which Google and Verizon agree, according to the statement, include:

•  Users should have the final say about their Web experience, making their own choices about services, hardware, software and content, without either the government or the private sector trying to control those choices
•  Networks need to be advanced and open, and any new policies should provide incentives for investment and innovation
• The FCC should make its existing principles for user control enforceable and implement enforcement on a case-by-case basis
• Flexibility is key in any government policy, so as not to hamper innovation and change within the Internet ecosystem. On this point, the two companies are “in wild agreement.”
•  Broadband providers should be able to manage their networks to deal with congestion, malware, security and other threats to the network, but they must be reasonable in their management techniques and not discriminate in ways that harm users or disadvantage competitors
•  Transparency is key and should be added, as proposed by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, to the FCC’s guidelines. “All broadband access, services and applications providers should provide their customers with clear information about their offerings,” the statement said.