Google finds voice to respond to FCC
It's only 100 numbers, so stop being mean
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Google has responded to accusations that it blocks calls to certain numbers by reducing the quantity of blocked numbers to around 100, rather missing the point of network neutrality.
In a letter to Sharon E. Gillett, Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau, Google asserts that blocking calls to certain numbers is necessary as such calls were eating up 26 per cent of Google Voice's US running costs. It continues that Google has now reduced the list to around 100 numbers, which is all very well, but misses the point that a neutral access service should treat all destinations equally - an argument Google endorses vocally when applied to the internet.
Google reckons that it is only blocking calls to "traffic pumping" services, such as adult chat lines and "free" conference-call services. It says that it shouldn't be obliged to connect such calls - as other telecommunications companies are - as it's not a "telecommunications service" at all: its an "information service" instead. That argument is obviously bollocks; Google Voice is a telephony service and should be regulated as such, but Google reckons it has no obligation to connect such calls. It argues:
"We still believe the Commission needs to repair our nation's broken carrier compensation system. The current system simply does not serve consumers well."
It's quite possible that most of the numbers Google is blocking are dodgy services, and that such services interfere with Google's business model of giving away free calls within the USA. However, that doesn't alter the fact that Google is running a telephony service without being subject to telephony regulations, and that gives the competition every right to call foul. ®
COMMENTS
It's a free service
It's a free internet service that routes an EXISTING phone service...
It's not the same thing as a traditional telecom, new rules need to be made up, but it doesn't mean that Google should be subject to the same rules as those of traditional telecoms.
Reminds me of...
..a saying from a good book. I'll modify it to fit
"We're all Net Neutral, it's just that some of us are more Net Neutral than others"
Google telecomms, the bright side
I don't see why Google objects to be considered a telco. After all, they already have the legal intercept thing sorted - and in this case with active collaboration of the users. Or, to put it differently, anyone using Google Voice should STFU about Phorm.
At least Phorm doesn't legally grab the right to use your conversations any way they feel like (Terms of Service clause 11 works there too).
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