Google looks to make broadband speeds transparent

[The Feedster]

Google has announced it plans to develop a method where consumers will be able to see how their broadband connection is being fed to them.

After many ISPs have been accused of deliberately throttling bandwidth (especially Comcast, whose traffic management system seemed to suspiciously be blocking some file-sharing sites), Google wants to net to be more neutral.

Google senior policy director Richard Whitt said his company believes the net should be more open, as this encourages creativity to flourish and does not allow the ISPs to decide which companies will do the best.

Secret

"We're trying to develop tools, software tools...that allow people to detect what's happening with their broadband connections, so they can let [ISPs] know that they're not happy with what they're getting - that they think certain services are being tampered with," he said.

What these tools are, nobody knows, and there are probably a few companies out there who wouldn't want the general public to know about their bandwidth management strategies.

But you've got to give it to Google, constantly fighting to keep the internet open, even if they do speak about it in a bit of a clandestine super-hero kind of way.

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