Blog 3: Who Does the Internet Belong To?

How much is too much? This is a question that quickly crossed my mind as Blum briefly explained how Google came to acquire an important piece of networking real estate in 2006. Google purchased a gigantic building spanning an entire block in Manhattan for $1.9 billion, one of the top three most important network meeting points in New York as stated by Blum. This caught the eye of Internet infrastructure as the established search-engine giant amassed the large network meeting point that had a far-reaching global presence. Which leads us back to the question, how much is too much?

As of January 2016, Comcast owns over 50 percent of the 25mbps subscriptions in the United States. In an article titled "Comcast and Charter may soon control 70% of 25 mbps subscriptions", it's explained that Comcast's plans to purchase TWC was thwarted by the FCC because they feared Comcast would abuse their market share to harm online video sources. If the FCC is stopping a company from acquiring another company based on the fear of monopolization, perhaps that is too much. Is google acquiring the 111 Eighth fiber highway in New York too much?