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Comment by zpallin | Hacker News Reader

Agreed. We can't just break apart Google and call it a day.

There are plenty of gigantic corporations who are probably looking forward to eventually acquiring parts of Google. I wouldn't put it past Verizon, who has not only partnered with Google but also fought for telecom control against them. Don't we also need to break these companies up as well? Or do they have too much influence in the government? Ajit Pai, for example, famously worked for Verizon before government.

I'm not trying to protect Google. But I just think that the government needs to find a way to enforce these breakups more evenly or else it just leads to further consolidation, as you pointed out.

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>Ajit Pai, for example, famously worked for Verizon before government.

Pai worked at Verizon for two years between 2001 and 2003. He was appointed as FCC member in 2012. How much loyalty do you have to a job you held for two years, nine years ago?

It's not so much about loyalty as it is about connections, aka cronyism.

I don't know, and I don't think there is a rule for that. It depends on what sort of impact the people at that company had on you and your career. I had a job years ago that I held for two years that I think back fondly on. While it's been about 10 years since I had that job, the people I met through connections in that job are still some of my closest friends. I don't think it's farfetched for others to have similar experiences, and then make impactful decisions to help their friends out when they obtain positions of power.

It might not be farfetched, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions without proof. People essentially claimed he was bought and paid for by Verizon since the day he took office, before he even had a chance to do anything. All because of what job he had nearly a decade prior. I don't know about you, but that doesn't sit well with me.

Right, we shouldn't jump to conclusions. Although, I'm not jumping to conclusions about Ajit Pai. I am simply pointing out a fact: that a former Verizon employee is in a major position in the US government. You decided to make this about how much influence they have over him. I don't really care. As I said, I don't think it's farfetched. I have not come to any conclusions about it.

But you shouldn't be so sure that it has had zero influence, either.

Everyone also thought Tom Wheeler would be terrible as due to his prior career with cable and telecom, but he ended up being a strong advocate for net neutrality.

Documentation of things he's said about the relevant matters, which also happened to end up closely aligning with all of his future decisions and positions as FCC chairman, suggests his loyalty very likely never wavered.

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