Is There A Google-Verizon Conspiracy Afoot?

Here's one for conspiracy theorists: Google is negotiating to pay Verizon cash as a backdoor way to deny bandwidth to Google's smaller competitors. Sounds far-fetched? Then why has Verizon announced that it's negotiating with Google about the payments?

Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg recently said that providers of bandwith-intensive Internet applications, including Google, should "share the cost" of running broadband networks. In other words, they should fork over cash to Verizon.

SBC has been making this demand for a while, and now Verizon is apparently joining this scheme that would make even Tony Soprano blush.

The big news is that Seidenberg says that Google and Verizon are negotiating exactly how a payment scheme would be structured.

Why would Google agree to a blackmail plan like this? It's a way to kill off less-well-off competitors. Google can afford to make big payments for lots of bandwidth; smaller competitors can't. If Verizon can charge sites with for bandwidth-intensive applications, then Google will be able to pay and stay in business, but sites without the cash will be denied the bandwidth, effectively putting them out of business.Google in the past has said this kind of payment scheme shouldn't be allowed. Let's hope the company sees the light and doesn't agree to it.