Just a few weeks ago, I did a blog entry looking at how AT&T was taking on Google. The phone giant had asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate Google Voice, claiming it was in breach of federal rules. For its part, Google said the regulator had no jurisdiction over web-based software, even if it was in effect providing a phone service.
Now it seem s the two are fighting over a number of things, including sex lines.
AT&T has stepped up its attack with this letter to the FCC, claiming that Google is blocking calls to adults sex chat lines as well as an ambulance service, church, bank, law firm, automobile dealer, day spa, orchard, health clinic, tax preparation service, community center, eye doctor, tribal community college, school, residential consumers, a convent of Benedictine nuns, and the campaign office of a members of the US House of Representatives. The letter says: “As communications services increasingly migrate to broadband Internet-based platforms, we can now see the power of Internet-based applications providers to act as gatekeepers who can threaten the “free and open” Internet. Google™s double-standard for “openness” ” where Google does what it wants while other providers are subject to Commission regulations ” is plainly inconsistent with the goal of preserving a ‘free and open’ Internet ecosystem.”
For its part, Google in its blog has accused AT&T of being a pack of hypocrites. And it says there is a good reason for the blocking of calls. “Not only do they charge exorbitant termination rates for calls, but they also partner with adult sex chat lines and “free” conference calling centers to drive high volumes of traffic. This practice has been called “access stimulation” or “traffic pumping” (clearly by someone with a sense of humor). Google Voice is a free application and we want to keep it that way for all our users — which we could not afford to do if we paid these ludicrously high charges.”
In any case, it says it is providing a service that AT&T should have provided a long time ago. “The goal of Google Voice is to provide a useful, unified communications tool (including for, among others, soldiers and the homeless). Some have observed that Google Voice is something a real phone company should have offered years ago.”
All this is fascinating stuff, We can expect more of these battles as Google grows and expands into the territory of other companies. It’s a point I examine in my piece here.
At this stage, regulators are unlikely to move on Google. It is popular and hasn’t abused its power. But more questions will be asked as it continues to grow, threatening to violate every rule of free markets.
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