Google Aims To Expose Network Meddling

Google Aims to Expose Network Meddling

The father of the Internet on Wednesday revealed a plan to keep a closer eye on his creation.

Vint Cerf, Google's chief Internet evangelist and one of the architects of the Internet, announced the opening of Measurement Lab, an open research platform for testing Internet performance.

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"At Google, we care deeply about sustaining the Internet as an open platform for consumer choice and innovation," said Cerf and Google engineer Stephen Stuart in a co-authored blog post. "No matter your views on net neutrality and ISP network management practices, everyone can agree that Internet users deserve to be well-informed about what they're getting when they sign up for broadband, and good data is the bedrock of sound policy. Transparency has always been crucial to the success of the Internet, and, by advancing network research in this area, M-Lab aims to help sustain a healthy, innovative Internet."

Google's support for net neutrality is well known, and it's clear that by making network performance data more accessible, the company hopes to make it more difficult for telecommunications providers to degrade or block certain protocols or applications, such as BitTorrent or Skype, that undermine certain business models.

I have not always agreed with all of Google's stances and recent actions in the past but I am not positive if I can trust them as I am questioning their intentions of this. I am for Net Neutrality. However, I am curious what their true intentions are with the technology they create for us to use to "investigate" what's blocked by either network or ISP filters.

Whom do I trust? They have the power, but too much power tends to corrupt most.