A free and open internet is the ideal kind of internet, but Verizon's vision of that is somewhat skewed.
In Verizon's latest promotion called "FreeBee", the telecommunications company is opening up a sponsored data service offering paid-for bundles of content that come at no cost to subscribers.
So who pays for all the "free" content that's supposed to be taking up a subscriber's monthly data allocation? The big corporations and their marketing agencies, of course.
This is how it works: A Verizon subscriber can go online and watch a video, stream audio, or download an app all for free as long as they see a little bee icon next to the content they're interested in. That bee icon means that piece of content is covered under the FreeBee Data program.
This is why FreeBee is bad: It goes against what a real "free" internet should be. The net neutrality laws passed last year stipulate that service providers like Verizon shouldn't be able to give advantages to a few companies while forcing competitors to pay for the same advantages.
Verizon, for example, just bought AOL. That means Verizon could create a special lane for AOL's content to reach more eyeballs first before any other media outfit - lest they pay up, of course.
"FreeBee Data is a departure from the one size fits all approach to marketing. The opportunity to add value and utility to consumers' everyday experiences will fundamentally transform how brands and businesses connect with their customers." says Verizon.
It's all about the money and subscribers have two options to save it. Under FreeBee Data 360, businesses can offer subscribers paid-for content such as videos that can be watched for free. Under the separate FreeBee Data program, a cost-per-click model is used where content consumed by a subscriber gets charged to the businesses that have sponsored it based on "clicks."
Byte by byte, the savings to subscribers may not be too obvious. Accumulated throughout the month, however, Verizon's FreeBee Data could amount to a considerable amount of free data usage.
Then again, the only partners so far included in the program are Hearst Magazines, AOL, and Gameday. Assuming Verizon doesn't called out by the Federal Communications Commission for their FreeBee program, we can expect to see even more content from multi-billion dollar companies trying to sell us more stuff.
Alan Levine | Flickr
