It pays to suck up – and spread the money around. It looks like Google’s been doing both – and doing it with great skill. Better, in fact, than its competitors the telecoms. And so ‘net neutrality’ is back on the table. I’ve written about net neutrality and for a while it seemed that the government would butt out. But Google’s now tight – very tight – with Hope ‘n Change. From the LA Times:
Another inauguration took place in Washington this week — Google Inc. officially became a political power player.
In October, Google was only hours from being sued by the Justice Department as a Web-search monopolist. Today, less than three years after it made its first Washington hire, the Internet giant is poised to capitalize on its backing of President Obama and pursue its agenda in the nation’s capital.
Google’s executives and employees overwhelmingly supported Obama’s candidacy, contributing more money than all but three companies or universities. And only DreamWorks employees gave more toward inauguration festivities.
Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt campaigned for Obama and was one of four Googlers on his transition team. He is now as likely as any corporate chieftain to get his calls to the White House returned.
At the top of the company’s policy priorities are two that consumer advocates largely champion. First, it wants to expand high-speed Internet access so people can use its Web services more often. It also is pushing for so-called network neutrality: prohibitions on telecommunications companies charging websites for faster delivery of their content.
While it’s certainly true that most large companies jockey for attention in Washington’s fever swamps, one wonders whether Google isn’t in a class by itself – and whether it’s got an inside track in the new regime not possessed by its competitors. And as Wretchard has observed, will it have the power to lay down the rules in tomorrow’s Internet?
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