Net Neutrality

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 4:13 pm on 5 April 2011.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Ed Vaizey Ed Vaizey The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 4:13, 5 April 2011

Absolutely. In effect, I was going to agree with my hon. Friend’s point before he made it, in the sense that the internet is seen as being different because it is possible to set up a new company and to compete relatively cost-effectively on it. One only has to look at, for example, the rise of Groupon, which is another one of these phenomenal companies. It effectively started from zero and now, within about 18 months, it is worth an estimated $20 billion. One also sees it in the market of political journalism, which I could say is a market close to our hearts. Nevertheless, there should be concerns when there appear to be dominant providers on the internet.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton is aware, there is an EU anti-trust probe into alleged abuses by Google, concerning allegations about the manipulation of its search results, the consequent unfavourable treatment of its unpaid and sponsored results and the preferential placement of Google’s own services. Although my hon. Friend said that the process of the EU’s anti-trust probe was going to be clunky and time-consuming, I remind him that the EU challenged Microsoft a few years ago and fined it substantially. This process regarding Google will be effective, as it continues, in establishing whether any of the allegations that have been made against it are true and need to be remedied.

It is perhaps ironic, given that Microsoft was in a dominant position a few years ago, that it is now Microsoft asking the European Commission to investigate the dominant position of Google. To a certain extent, that reinforces the point that although there may be so-called “dominant providers” on the internet, the balance of power can shift extraordinarily quickly, particularly if one does not anticipate, as it were, “the new new thing”.

For example, if I was a spokesman for Google, I might say that Google’s next threat was not necessarily from the European Commission, but from Facebook, which is now the dominant provider in social media services. It might well be that we have not anticipated Facebook’s next threat, but that it will manifest itself in two or three years’ time. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that Microsoft has asked to be joined in this action against Google and Microsoft makes some interesting points. The position that Google would take—perfectly justifiably—is that alternative search methods are just “one click away”. Indeed, I understand that we have something like 177 UK search engines serving the UK market at the moment.

I have already agreed to see one of those companies, Reach Global, when I am next in Manchester, at the invitation of Graham Jones in whose constituency it is based. I would be absolutely delighted to take up the offer made by my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell to meet the founders of Foundem. Microsoft’s point is its allegation that Google restricts access to certain content, particularly to YouTube content on phones that run Windows, and it has set out its concerns extensively.

Google also comes in for criticism from rights holders, who say that the search engine helps to promote piracy, and Google is taking steps to address those concerns. For example, its introduction of predictive text when searching for a piece of music in effect meant that the phrase was filled in with BitTorrent, almost directing someone to pirate sites to download music. That has now been remedied by Google, and it is now also very good at addressing concerns about its AdSense product. That product allows adverts to appear on appropriate sites with appropriate content, but they were often appearing on sites that promoted pirated music. Google is now happy to remove those ads, if notified by the rights holders. I also know that the company is keen to work with rights holders on notice and take-down issues, and will take down search results that direct users to private sites, provided that it is notified and given adequate evidence.

Google’s unique selling point, and the area in which it finds it much more difficult to accommodate the concerns of rights holders, is in-search rankings, so one can perhaps see why there is such intense debate on the issue. Search rankings are one reason why Google is so popular. They are the holy grail, and the algorithm is the secret formula that provides swift and accurate search findings.

One concern of rights holders and of companies that seek to rival Google products is that they do not appear adequately high enough in the search rankings. A recent example that was brought to my attention by rights holders was that the day after publicity appeared for a single that will not be released until 30 May, typing in the name of the single revealed 160 different websites from which it could be downloaded illegally. Often, the legal source for a song will come on only the sixth or seventh page of the search results. Those are huge concerns, and it is absolutely right and proper that my hon. Friends should bring them to the attention of the House, and that they should be debated as openly as possible.

I should address the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton about whether the OFT or the Competition Commission should investigate the matter. The EU anti-trust probe is, I think, an adequate remedy at the moment, and I gather that the OFT looked into the matter three or four years ago and does not feel the need to do so again at this time. My hon. Friend is, of course, perfectly able to contact the OFT and to suggest a change of heart. Without wishing for this to be taken in any way as a criticism of the OFT or the Competition Commission, I should say that my hon. Friend might find that their procedures, in his perception, are clunky and time-consuming—I imagine that any probe would take at least two years.

The reason why this debate is so important is that we are constantly going to be challenged about the development of the internet. My hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell mentioned the possibility of a stranglehold on news by a company such as Google, and the rise of Google religion, almost like an Aldous Huxley novel, but it is not wrong of him to raise what some people might consider fantastic concerns; such concerns are raised with me all the time, although not specifically about Google.

As distinguished a man as Tim Berners-Lee has very strong feelings and very real concerns about keeping the internet as open as possible. That part of the debate, the net neutrality issue, which is the formal title of the debate today, focuses much more on the people who provide the infrastructure and the networks—the telecoms companies, in effect—than on web-based companies.