Will Google, Verizon Skewer Net Neut?

Andrew Jay Schwartzman, senior vice president and policy director of the Media Access Project, said in a statement:

"What is good for Google and Verizon is not necessarily good for innovation and competition on the Internet. What the two companies have in common is that both are incumbents with dominant positions in their markets. It's no wonder they are prepared to strike a deal that protects their market position at the detriment of the next Verizon and the next Google." 

Internet companies such as Google and Verizon and other carriers have long battled over how much sway ISPs should have over how and when they shuttle Web services across their networks.

Google wants to ensure as broad a transmission of its Web services as possible. Carriers want to be able to control their pipes and prioritize traffic as they see fit.

This is the central issue for Google and Verizon.

Naturally, paying for better traffic placement would be anathema to Google's position about network neutrality, a path that led the company May to call for broadband providers to get common carrier status.

The Times wasn't the only reputable publication to note that paying to get ahead in the Internet traffic queue was on the table for the companies.

The Wall Street Journal (paywall warning) noted in its Aug. 5 story that Google and Verizon's pact would enable phone and cable companies to "offer faster, priority delivery of Internet traffic for companies that pay extra for the service."

However, the Journal cited anonymous sources saying that this would not apply network neutrality principles to wireless networks.