By MIGUEL HELFT
4:09 p.m. | Updated Our article on this news has been posted.
Google and Verizon held a conference call with the news media to discuss a joint proposal on net neutrality issues. Details in our live-blogging updates below, with the most recent updates at the top.
2:07 P.M. |Wrapping Up and a Reaction
The press conference concludes. First reactions from net neutrality advocates appear to be mixed. In a statement, Andrew Jay Schwartzman, senior vice president and policy director at the Media Access Project, said: “The plan raises as many questions as it answers. For example, it does not disclose the standard to be used in resolving consumer complaints. One question that the plan does definitively answer is that the non-discrimination proposal would never apply to wireless. That alone makes this arrangement a non-starter.”
2:01 P.M. |On New Services
Another question is asked about what is different about these new services that would not be on the Internet. Mr. Seidenberg mentions the FiOS TV service as an example.
Asked about other examples of new entertainment services, Mr. Seidenberg says that for example the Metropolitan Opera may want to broadcast its entire archive in 3-D, and they may choose do so over a new type of service.
Mr. Schmidt reiterates: “This is not a deal. This is a joint policy announcement.” He says that Google and Verizon are committed to playing by these rules.
(This is the relevant portion of the companies’ announcement: “Fifth, we want the broadband infrastructure to be a platform for innovation. Therefore, our proposal would allow broadband providers to offer additional, differentiated online services, in addition to the Internet access and video services (such as Verizon’s FiOS TV) offered today. This means that broadband providers can work with other players to develop new services. It is too soon to predict how these new services will develop, but examples might include health care monitoring, the smart grid, advanced educational services, or new entertainment and gaming options. Our proposal also includes safeguards to ensure that such online services must be distinguishable from traditional broadband Internet access services and are not designed to circumvent the rules. The FCC would also monitor the development of these services to make sure they don’t interfere with the continued development of Internet access services.”)
1:55 P.M. |No Business Deal
A question is asked about whether the companies ran this proposal by the F.C.C. and whether there is a business arrangement between the two companies that is behind this announcement.
Mr. Schmidt: “There is no business arrangement.” He says any reports that say there is an arrangement are false and misleading. He also says that they have run this by the F.C.C.
Mr. Seidenberg emphasizes that there is no business deal and that this is merely a proposal to move the policy debate forward.
1:53 P.M. |Investment Incentives
Mr. Schmidt adds that there would be an incentive for carriers to continue investing in the “open Internet” since that’s what customers want. He also reiterates that YouTube and other Google services would remain on the open Internet, not on one of the new paid and prioritized channels.
1:50 P.M. |Prioritizing Traffic
Mr. Seidenberg fields a question about the distinction between the neutral public Internet and the new services that could be prioritized. “Under the principles, there is no prioritization of traffic that comes from Google over the Internet, period,” he said. It is not entirely clear how these new services would work, but Mr. Schmidt said that Google has no plans to offer any of these enhanced services.
Mr. Seidenberg said that carriers would add enough capacity so that none of the new services would degrade their ability to deliver existing Internet services.
1:44 P.M. |Verizon’s Take
Ivan Seidenberg takes over. He says that he agrees with the rules outlined by Mr. Schmidt but that carriers should be able to offer new types of services that are not part of the open Internet, like sophisticated health care monitoring systems or new forms of entertainment. He says these new services should not be used to circumvent the kinds of rules they are proposing.
Wireless services would be exempt from major net neutrality rules, but carriers would be required to be transparent about what they do in terms of managing traffic.
Verizon will post these principles on its Web site and plans to abide by them.
Question and answers now.
1:41 P.M. |Some Details
Highlights: Mr. Schmidt recommends principles that allow for enforcing net neutrality rules on landline communications. He also calls for more enforceable rules and more transparency from carriers.
A post about this is up on the Google Public Policy Blog.
1:39 P.M. |A New Proposal
They are releasing a detailed joint policy proposal.
Mr. Schmidt says Google has benefited from an open Internet. “More importantly, an open Internet allows for the next Google to be created.” He adds that just about everything that has been in the press on this topic recently was completely wrong.
1:37 P.M. |Google-Verizon Call Begins
Eric Schmidt and Ivan Seidenberg are leading the conference call. Mr. Schmidt says the two companies spent a long time trying to find common ground. He was pleasantly surprised that there was a lot of common ground. He says the two companies are dependent upon each other.
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