Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), which has over the years adopted something of an anti-establishment persona, today becomes very much a part of the establishment as MoveOn.org hosts a rally at its Mountain View headquarters to protest behind-the-door net neutrality talks Google has been holding with Verizon (NYSE: VZ).
The protest is a combo deal: MoveOn is apparently not happy with any corporate dealings that might dilute net neutrality and it is especially unhappy when Internet powerhouses like Google and Verizon huddle behind closed doors to try to set policy.
"If the protest does little to budge either Verizon or Google, a lengthy court battle could ensue regarding the future of the Internet," according to the Santa Barbara Independent Examiner's Julian Gottlieb, who pointed out further that "net neutrality advocates are largely grassroots."
Which is where another group fits into the rancor. The increasingly ubiquitous Tea Party wants a say in the matter and a coalition that includes 25 "tea party groups" has sent a letter to the FCC opposing net neutrality as "an affront to free speech, according to Jamie Radtke, chairman of the Virginia Tea Party Patriot Federation who said that the issue is "starting to get on the radar now."
For more:
- see this story
- and this story
Related articles:
Google, Verizon come to terms on net neutrality
Reports: Google, Verizon working on their own net neutrality compromise