News: Rogers website messages irk Google - “Search engine giant Google Inc. says it's ‘concerned’ about efforts by Rogers Communications Inc. to insert branded corporate messages into third-party websites, a move critics say is a case of a Internet service provider overstepping its boundaries.
“Toronto-based Rogers confirmed yesterday that it has spent the past few weeks testing a new technology that allows it to post Web-based notices to its Internet subscribers when they are approaching their monthly data limits.”
“The messages carry Rogers' name and logo and appear in the body of Web pages in place of original content, not as a pop-up window. One such notice, posted online, showed the Rogers content occupying the top third of Google's normally sparse search page…
“‘It's a very slippery slope,’ said Philippa Lawson, the executive director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic…
“Rogers' experiment is being touted by some as more evidence of the need for legislation that enshrines the so-called principle of ‘Net neutrality’, which basically says that all Web content is created equal.
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“Net neutrality proponents say they are concerned some companies want more control over access to the Internet's infrastructure to reap more money from their investments – particularly as consumers flock to bandwidth-hogging Internet applications such as file sharing and video.
“That could lead to extra charges on content creators and Web-based business such as Google, eBay and Amazon.com in order to secure premium access to subscribers – a move some say will stifle innovation on the Web since only deep-pocketed companies will be able to afford the necessary access.
“It's not the first time Rogers has been accused of messing with Internet traffic. Some users have complained that Rogers and rival Bell Canada use special software to sniff out file-sharing data on its network and move it into the equivalent of an Internet slow lane.”
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