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I am glad to see the net neutrality debate raging. As Union Square Ventures and on our personal blogs (AVC, Continuations) we have long been proponents of net neutrality (the USV link is from 2006!).
Our own bias here is clear: we are pro-startup and pro-innovation. Both are of course essential to the venture capital business, but we believe they are also the lifeblood of the economy. Surprisingly, a lot of people who argue against net neutrality don’t seem to make the connection to innovation and startups at all. That is even more surprising when the criticism comes from someone like Henry Blodget who is clearly the beneficiary of the level playing field provided by net neutrality.
As for the Google-Verizon proposal, my partner Brad has done a terrific job pointing out two of the key problems. I want to go a step further though. Much as I am glad that Google has been a proponent of some aspects of net neutrality, Google is no longer a startup itself! Google’s ability to cross-subsidize new markets from its amazing core business poses a potential threat to innovation that I have written about before. This access to nearly limitless funds is especially important to keep in mind when looking at net neutrality.
See full post at: Net Neutrality Is Critical For Innovation.
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- More on the Net Neutrality Debate (bits.blogs.nytimes.com)
- Google’s Lame Defense of its Net Neutrality Pact (Stacey Higginbotham/GigaOM) (techmeme.com)
- Net Neutrality Groups Plan Protest At Google Headquarters (huffingtonpost.com)
- Google Responds to Criticisms Over Proposed Net Neutrality (circleid.com)
- Facebook Enters the Google-Verizon Net Neutrality Debate (mashable.com)
- Google defends net neutrality stance (telegraph.co.uk)
- Google/Verizon Net Neutrality pact: It really is that bad (alternet.org)
- Google: net neutrality flip-flop in “spirit of compromise” (arstechnica.com)
