06 August 2010 | Author: D. Warburton Search Copywriter

Google denies plans to end net neutrality

Google has denied claims that it has been closing a deal with telecoms company Verizon to deliver faster speeds to users willing to pay more for the privilege - an agreement that would have effectively brought an end to the principle of 'net neutrality' that the search company holds so dear.

The news that Google was finalising such a deal with Verizon was broken on Thursday by the New York Times, but Google has been quick to deny the reports.

"The New York Times is quite simply wrong," a Google spokesperson flatly told Web User.

"We have not had any conversations with Verizon about paying for carriage of Google traffic. We remain as committed as we always have been to an open internet."

The rumours may have started following a post to the Official Google Blog by CEO Eric Schmidt, in which he explained: "We have been talking to Verizon for a long time about trying to get an agreement on what the definition of 'net neutrality' is.

"We are trying to find solutions that bridge between the hard core 'net neutrality or else' view and the historical telecom view of no such agreement."

Google has always been an ardent support of an open internet, publicly voicing its criticism of Rupert Murdoch's plans to charge users for news content and withdrawing its operations from the Chinese mainland over issues of web censorship.

Independent regulator Ofcom called a meeting in June with ISPs and network operators to debate the future of net neutrality in the UK.

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