The Jeff Pulver Blog: Jeff Pulver to Eric Schmidt: Turn the Tide

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January 17, 2006

Jeff Pulver to Eric Schmidt: Turn the Tide – Turn off BellSouth!

Sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

As previously feared, the battle for the future of the commercial Internet is underway in early January, 2006. Given the war cry from Bill Smith, BellSouth’s CTO, in Marketwatch yesterday to the effect that BellSouth would be justified in charging content and application providers because they are using the telco's network without paying for it. The time has come to either put up or shut up.

To the extend that BellSouth wants to take on Google and other Application Service Providers, now is the time to call their bluff and go “All-in” (while you still have a couple of decent hole cards), and put this issue to bed once and for all. While there will be other fights that will break-out during the war, this is one battle that should be over quickly, if the right weapons are used.

Given the market power that Google has today, they are more relevant to the Internet community than BellSouth. Given that, if I were running Google today, I would choose to implement a BellSouth Boycott and stop offering access to Google to BellSouth customers and would start advertising Cox Cable service on any requests that came from BellSouth customers in their regions. I’m willing to wager that by Q3 2006, BellSouth’s DSL group will feel the effects of their grave error in judgment.

While it is inevitable that our “friends” in Washington, DC are, at some point, going to get fully engaged on this issue when it affects them, we don’t have the time to wait for this to get on the national agenda of Congress and then weigh in with their approach.

As the battle between the Internet Access Providers and Internet Application Providers rages on, it is the customers who will be hurt more than any of the underlying companies selling access or offering applications. Welcome to the game of Internet Chicken and the race to mutually assured destruction. Who will flinch first before it is too late?

Tags: Net Neutrality, Google, BellSouth, Eric Schmidt, Jeff Pulver

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Posted by jeff on January 17, 2006 07:03 PM | Permalink

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Comments

It's ridiculous. Why should application providers pay when subscribers have already done so? Trying to have the cake and eat it too yeah?

I agree with Anthony. I sure hope one of the big web companies has the guts to fight fire with fire

Posted by: theCreator at January 23, 2006 01:59 AM

Bell-headed ever further -South has had quite the year. They've spearheaded a campaign of fear and intimidation against small town America with their wireless lawsuits. When the feds rebuffed their ridiculous petitions for protections they engaged in a campaign to lobby corrupt state legislatures to convince them to pass laws against their own people using wireless to address Bellsouth's crappy and nonexistent services. Further I think this effort was probably illegal on antitrust grounds.
Obviously such behavior it is unethical if it isn't illegal. Bellsouth has a corporate policy against ethics. They demonstrated this in the aftermath of Katrina by reneging on an offer to donate an unused building to the people of New Orleans after learning the city was going to implement free wireless in an attempt to lure business back to their flood ravaged downtown.
Now they've shown they are all for slowing down the speed of technological advancement with their anti-wireless campaigns. (Actually they are just slowing down their customer's access to technology services but nothing new there as they can't supply DSL to their customers anyway.) But this latest is a new one. They want to turn back the clock. They want to revert to an era before the internet by destroying the internet and making arbitrary decisions as to who you would have access to on the net. They of course would decide based on whatever crazy, venal and ignorant criteria of the Bell-headed toward disaster-South management de jour.

Posted by: John Bransford at January 20, 2006 06:10 AM

This is ugliness of the worst net order. Google shouldn't do anything but wait for BellSouth to shoot themselves in the foot. If Google were to take the first step and block the telco's IPs then they look like the evil ones. Google has a mantra against that. Also, to BellSouth's customers it'll be Google that is in the wrong. If BellSouth cuts the cord, then their customers will figure it out lickity split and find an alternative, that is if alternatives still exist after media conglomeration and mergers due to "deregulation". Google need do nothing but wait and let the telcos do what they do best, be evil.

Posted by: Eddie at January 20, 2006 04:37 AM

Hehe, I see someone needs to read up and learn about transport systems and the infastructure of the net. Pay attention to the backbones and who owns them:P

Much as I hate republicans, they were the best thing ever happened because regulations went out the window and as long as they keep that hand out, the two tiered internet will become a reality.

And if you didnt know, the cable companies, (Cox, Adelphi, Comcast) doesnt own their own backbones.
All roads leads to the Bells, call the bluff and you'll be downloading from Itunes @ 56k speeds unless you one of our dsl or fios customers.

I love my company (Verizon) and I applaud their stance. The bells been doing this for over a century, no matter how much cash others may have, you dont wanna challenge them

Posted by: dave at January 19, 2006 10:16 PM

Geoff,

I did not make the idiot comment. A fake Eric, whose opinion is not to be respected, did. :-P

Posted by: Eric (who made the real comment) at January 18, 2006 04:11 PM

It is kind of like paying a tax because you paid a tax.....and you have little high speed choice in Florida......it is difficult to get comcast or anyone else in many locations.

Posted by: Mark at January 18, 2006 04:08 PM

So what if BellSouth holds their breath until they turn blue? I'm on Adelphia Cable. They can cut all the services out they want. I don't use their DSL, and I certainly would never use their service as long as they think they have a right to, in effect, tax content. Since the beginning, when I had DSL, I had problems with the SBC-supported backbone. We would sometimes go weeks with no service. (Without an offer or a refund for the extortion-level prices.) They drove three of my DSL providers out. And once they were gone, all of a sudden here comes SBC/Yahoo DSL. An SBC tech, who showed up at my apartment to check the line said that their philosophy is: "We're a monopoly. We don't have to care." So when I had a chance to go Cable, I jumped on it so fast it wasn't funny. And guess what? It's WAY faster than DSL. The only problem is they also have the anti-content policy of now allowing servers on the line. My how things (haven't) changed!

Posted by: Eric at January 18, 2006 04:08 PM

Geoff, you're an idiot.

Posted by: Eric at January 18, 2006 03:57 PM

Bellsouth already blocks e-mails coming from other cable and e-mail providers....I have to create a Bellsouth account everytime I'm in Florida so I can forward my business and comcast e-mail through.........short sited...they don't realize they are a highway, not the transportation.

Posted by: Mark at January 18, 2006 03:55 PM

Jeff,

We have negotiated commercial agreements with Bellsouth, but have not be able to get the 6mb DSL product added to the agreement. From sources in other negotiations, it has been said BellSouth doesn’t want ISPs to have the 6mb product because is allow them to effectively compete by offering VoIP to small businesses. As you can see Bellsouth doing more for the comsumer every day.

Posted by: Troy Bourque at January 18, 2006 03:25 PM

Amen brother. These tactics by Bell South and others will eventually mean a company like Yahoo could pay to have their site "appear" to be faster to access. Users assume Google is slower and eventually move over to Yahoo. Mom and pops selling their wares would have to fight a battle with the big companies with deep pockets. The corner book store's site never shows up on Verizon customers because Amazon paid to be the exclusive Book web site that travels over Verizon broadband. It would be a method of cencorship. Strangely the Feds originally paid for the lines and research that lead to the Internet.

I hope somebody has the guts to fight fire with fire. Content is king.

That is my two cents worth.

Anthony.

Posted by: Anthony Strange at January 18, 2006 02:45 PM

Google losing the support of the Ham Radio Lobby? I bet Schmidt is quaking in his boots at the prospect of losing those six hits a month.

Posted by: Mark Belanger at January 18, 2006 02:20 PM

I agree:

I wrote an editorial: If the Bells block google and other content providers, they will find that regular, decent ISPs gain as the RBOCs are finally forced to pay for their latest abuse of monopoly power after years in which they got away with everything.

http://www.isp-planet.com/politics/2006/freedom.html

Posted by: Alex Goldman at January 18, 2006 11:36 AM

Excellent comments, Jeff. I have been pushing for Google and Ebay to do just this for some time.

The "Access Fees" being bushed by AT&T, BellSouth, and Verizon are nothing more than an attempt to divert the cost of offering broadband to the content providers so that they can continue to dump their DSL service on the market at well below fair market price.

While the government has instituted a self-imposed moratorium on Internet taxes, the Bell companies have been able to use their monopoly position to dump their broadband service on the market, drive out independent competition, and gain a significant foothold on the broadband market which they now plan to use to levee their own form of Internet tax.

It is key that people like yourself and other key players in the technology industry begin calling these "access fees" what they are, an unmandated Internet tax. Both consumers and the federal government need to be made aware of what is really going on.

In addition, we must all continue to urge the large content providers like Google, Ebay, Apple, etc. to turn the tables on the Bell companies. The content providers should begin their own form of packet shaping and deprioritize packets from the Bell companies and reduce the speed they can access content to below the speed of dialup.

I don't recommend cutting the Bell companies off entirely, but definitely make the Bells' access subpar, will force the hand of the Feds and the FCC to finally do something to protect consumers and not the monopolies.

Regards,
James Nelson
KCnet, Inc.

Posted by: James Nelson at January 18, 2006 11:29 AM

Google IMHO was a bad example. If BellSouth wanted to turn off Google, they have my support and that of ham radio operators worldwide.

Google invested $100,000,000 in BPL, (broadband over powelines) the electronic equivalent of toxic waste dumping. Many ham radio operators and other radio hobbyists have been boycotting Google since July of last year.

If Bill Smith wanted to turn off Google, all he has to do is get his PR people to spin it that his company is doing something no one else was big enough to do, stand up to Google.

While they are off, if he negoitates a fee for giving them enhanced service, that's just good business.

Geoff.

Posted by: Geoff Mendelson at January 18, 2006 06:14 AM

Problem is it seems petulant until Bellsouth actually does something.

First you have to wait until Bellsouth demands money. "Pay up!" they'll say.

"Pay up or what?" is the obvious question.

Or what indeed? Or else Bellsouth will cut off their users from Google? Not going to happen. Bellsouth will slow it down? Possibly -- and then make a stink.

More likely is an attempt to block Google Video or Google Talk which compete with BS. (Good initials.) Or slow them down. Again, that's the time to make a stink to the customers. And, considering Madison River, to the FCC.

PS: Jeff, I see you use Captcha security codes. Do you actually need them? How about a text question? Blind people can't post comments if you use these.

Posted by: Brad Templeton at January 18, 2006 01:54 AM