Google says Bill could Spark Antitrust Fight

GOOGLE SAYS BILL COULD SPARK ANTITRUST FIGHT
[SOURCE: Reuters 7/4]
Google warned on Tuesday it will not hesitate to file antitrust complaints if high-speed Internet providers abuse the market power they could receive from Congress. The Senate Commerce Committee last week approved sweeping communications reform legislation that would make it easier for telephone companies like AT&T to offer subscription television to consumers. But it narrowly rejected attempts by some lawmakers to strengthen safeguards on Internet service, which had pitted high-speed Internet, or broadband, providers such as AT&T against Internet content companies like Google. The battle centered on whether broadband providers can charge more to carry unaffiliated content or to guarantee service quality, an issue called Net neutrality. "If the legislators...insist on neutrality, we will be happy. If they do not put it in, we will be less happy but then we will have to wait and see whether or not there actually is any abuse," Vint Cerf, a Google vice president and one of the pioneers of the Internet, said Tuesday. "If we are not successful in our arguments... then we will simply have to wait until something bad happens and then we will make known our case to the Department of Justice's anti-trust division," he added.
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