Verizon: We're Ending Google's "Free Lunch"

One more member of the Telco mafia has threatened Google with a bandwidth cutoff. Verizon senior VP and general counsel John Thorne told a conference that Google "is enjoying a free lunch," by using Verizon's network, and issued a veiled threat to cut off Google's bandwidth. All that, according to the Washington Post.

Thorne whined that "The network builders are spending a fortune constructing and maintaining the networks that Google intends to ride on with nothing but cheap servers. It is enjoying a free lunch..."

His solution? Charge Google and other Web sites for bandwidth, even though Verizon is already charging -- excuse me, overcharging -- consumers for that bandwidth.

He wants the laws changed to allow him and the other Telcos to legally extort money from Google and other Web sites if they want adequate bandwidth.

The Internet, of course, is built on the very openness that he, AT&T and others are trying to kill. It's been the greatest innovation engine in the history of mankind. If he has his way, this innovation will be a thing of the past.Ironically, Verizon has plans to hog more than 80% of its fiber optic network for its own TV service, while demanding that Web sites pay premium fees for the leftovers.

AT&T, Verizon and other Telcos are turning up the heat these days, because they want Congress to allow them to legally extort money from Google and other Web sites. It's time to tell them no.