Do No Evil

Randall Munroe, the artist behind this and many more classic comics from xkcd, uses the comic strip as a medium of social commentary on issues important to him and fellow like-minded nerds (like myself) and geeks who enjoy his work. He could have taken the easy way out and bashed Google for its recent negotiations with Verizon, which are assumed to breach of it's mission statement to do no evil. He probably could have gotten a ton of diggs by reinforcing popular sentiment, but he chose to help move the discourse forward.

Should we trust Google and their proven track record of social responsibility, or is it better to empower the US Government to regulate Internet Service Provider's efforts to determine how much bandwidth is allocated to certain sites?

Honestly, my gut is telling me that the company culture at Google is much more trustworthy than the FCC. However, where there is an opportunity to do evil in the name of self-interest maximization, my cynicism tells me it will be done. By allowing Google and its accomplices the power to regulate the speed at which users connect to certain websites or types of files, a system is created with no checks and balanced that is vulnerable to both internal and external exploitation motivated by potential or financial gain. Maybe Google and Verizon can be trusted, but who says AT&T and Apple won't take a bite out of the forbidden fruit?

In the end, one needs to decide whether they want decisions regarding Internet Access to be in the hands of private entities who are subject to restrict usage on the grounds of profitability, or if it is better to take a chance with legislation that mandates the free use of the Internet through oversight public oversight of the Industry. With an issue so complex and prone to abuse, I'll take my chances with the government so that if I am wronged, I will have legal means to pursue compensation for my losses.

If only there were perfectly competitive markets with full transparency offering goods and services to consumers educated enough to understand the convoluted nature of markets. But alas, market failures are what force the hand of government to regulate and protect the rights of the consumers, and in this case, the freedom of speech as dictated by the Constitution.

Fairly unrelated but still hilarious, check out this video of Conan O'brien doing some of his best and most bitter work when he was invited to a corporate gig at Google.