IP Democracy: Net Neutrality is a Snoozer Topic

(San Jose, CA) One of the hottest topics in the Internet arena last year, net neutrality, is now just about one of the most boring ideas. The whole notion of requiring broadband network providers to abide by non-discrimination rules when it comes to IP-based video services and applications, a concept that scuttled major telecom reform legislation last year, has lost its juice, so much so that I had no plans to attend a general session yesterday devoted to the topic here at VON 07.

But, I had lunch with session moderator Blair Levin, a veteran Washington hand who now advises investors at Stifel and Nicolaus, and changed my mind. Blair promised to inject some new ideas into the debate, so I attended.

Blair did his best to enliven the dead topic — to me the highlight of the session was Blair’s very witty slide-show that kicked off the panel — but net neutrality is still a snoozer. No one has said anything new about the debate, added any new wrinkles or advanced the discussion in about six or seven months. And none of the panelists yesterday broke any new ground with one exception.

Rick Whitt, an MCI veteran who is Google’s new Washington Telecom and Media Counsel, set the record straight regarding whether Google has reversed its pro-net neutrality stance, as some reports have suggested. “There’s no strategic change in thinking at all,” Whitt said, although he did add that Google believes the best solution to possible network provider blockage of competitive services is competition in the broadband distribution side of the business, a very long-term solution indeed. “We’re not there anytime soon so that’s why net neutrality seems to be the solution,” Whitt added.

Check out Gigaom’s Paul Kapustka (who has done a great job covering policy issues) for more on yesterday’s panel and Whitt’s public debut in his new role at Google.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on March 21, 2007 1:18 PM to IP Democracy