Chris Ziegler, at This is my Next:
It seems a few American carriers have started working with Google to disable access to tethering apps in the Android Market in recent weeks, ostensibly because they make it easier for users to circumvent the official tethering capabilities offered on many recent smartphones — capabilities that carry a plan surcharge. Sure, it’s a shame that they’re doing it, but from Verizon’s perspective, it’s all about protecting revenue — business as usual. It’s Google’s role in this soap opera that’s a cause for greater concern.
It’s becoming more and more clear that Google and the carriers are working closely on this sort of thing. Now, I have no problem with that. Yes, it’s terrible, but it is the way things are in the smartphone market. AT&T kept MMS and tethering from iPhone customers for months.
However, neither AT&T not Apple claim to be peddling an “open” platform. It’s that statement, in the face of such actions that Ziegler outlines in his post that pisses me off. Such two-face actions seem to fly in the face of Google’s mantra of “Don’t be evil.”