Google: We'll Sue AT&T If We Have To

Google is playing hardball when it comes to net neutrality -- it's now threatening to file anti-trust suits against AT&T and any other telco that abuse their power if no net neutrality law passes Congress. One of the founders of the Internet (and now Google employee) Vinton Cerf said earlier this week that he was unhappy that net neutrality is apparently headed for defeat.

He added that he worried that without net neutrality guarantees, telcos may use their power to threaten competitors, most notably Google.

"We will have to wait and see whether or not there actually is any abuse," Reuters quotes him as saying.

He added, "We are worried that some of the broadband service providers...will attempt to use their control over broadband transport facilities to interfere with services of competitors."

If that happens, he says, "We will make known our case to the Department of Justice's anti-trust division."Cerf is right to be worried. AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth have all been making a variety of threats against sites like Google, and you can be sure that they'll follow through.

So don't be surprised if Google eventually tries to make its case to the Justice Department. But there's one problem with that tactic: The Department of Justice's anti-trust division is in the pocket of the telcos, just as the FCC is, and as Congress is as well.

So Cerf's only hope may lie elsewhere, for when the current administration leaves office, and another one takes over. If we're lucky, that one will be more sympathetic to Internet freedoms, because this one certainly isn't.