"Games” Broadband Monopolists Play: Verizon’s “optimized” Game Network

Anti-Internet freedom giant Verizon announced that it will be using its FIOS network to sell and deliver online ad-supported gaming, according to Online Media Daily [Aug. 11, 2006]. “The service is optimized for the Verizon fiber-optic broadband network, and runs fastest when players have subscribed with Verizon,” [my italics] it was reported. Verizon’s PlayLinc gaming service will feature ads for the phone giant’s “fiber-optic network, mobile phones and phone service…and on the program itself.”

Oh, what a tangled web we will have, as the anti-net neutrality monopolists use their new discriminatory powers to shape the Internet to their liking.

Author: jeff

Jeff Chester is executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. A former journalist and filmmaker, Jeff's book on U.S. electronic media politics, entitled "Digital Destiny: New Media and the Future of Democracy" was published by The New Press in January 2007. He is now working on a new book about interactive advertising and the public interest. View all posts by jeff