Let me start by stating the obvious:
Bert will claim that this has nothing to do with Net Neutrality - it is just
another example of “collusion” among competitors in the streaming video
business.
In fact, the author of this article does compare this dispute with the blocking
of TV signals by content owners when they are blackmailing the MVPDs.
The dispute between Amazon and Google mirrors the face-offs that occasionally
crop up between pay-TV providers and TV networks when it comes time to
re-negotiate their deals.
The battle highlights the power that the world’s major technology companies
are gaining as they dominate important corners of commerce and
communications. As the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon has tremendous
sway over what people buy, while the results delivered by Google’s ubiquitous
search engine often help determine what people do on and off the web.
But in this instance, the two tech heavyweights aren’t fighting over
licensing fees. Instead, they are jockeying to position their gadgets and, by
extension, their digital services into homes as internet-connected appliances
and devices become more deeply ingrained in people’s lives.
The latest standoff between Google and Amazon was ridiculed by a trade
association of high-speed internet providers. The group, USTelecom, has been
trying to persuade skeptics that internet providers will preserve equal
access to all digital services, even if the Federal Communications Commission
adopts a proposal to rescind current “net neutrality regulations .
Internet providers are committed to “protections like no content blocking or
throttling,” said USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter. “Seems like some of the
biggest internet companies can’t say the same. Ironic, isn’t it?”