考研英语阅读精选：互联网巨头激烈对抗

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考研英语阅读：互联网巨头激烈对抗

　　IN 2011 Google spent over €100m ($130m) on grand 19th-century digs in Paris which look a little like the Elysée Palace, the official home of the president. That may have been a mistake. The firm’s deep coffers have now attracted the attention of Xavier Niel, an entrepreneur who delights in making pots of money at the expense of the establishment.2011年谷歌斥资一亿欧元(一亿三千万美元)在巴黎购买一幢19世纪的豪华寓所。该寓所看上去类似爱丽舍宫——法国总统的官邸。这一举动也许是个错误。谷歌的雄厚财力引起了承包商泽维尔-尼尔的注意，他很乐于以谷歌为踏脚石赚取巨资。

　　On January 3rd Mr Niel’s company, Free, which is France’s second-biggest internet-service provider (ISP), upgraded the software on the modems it supplies to customers. Online ads were blocked by default. The move, which was aimed chiefly at Google, caused a massive rumpus.

　　1月3日，尼尔的公司——法国第二大网络服务供应商FREE，升级了供顾客使用的调节器的软件。系统默认拦截广告。这一主要针对谷歌的举措引发巨大争议。

　　The American firm had reportedly been in negotiations with Free over whether to pay the ISP directly for the connection to its subscribers. On the internet, the convention is that ISPs such as Free cover the cost of their networks by charging their subscribers rather than providers of content. Google is accustomed to grumbles by ISPs that it does not contribute directly to the cost of their networks. It is also used to governments, such as China’s, blocking its services for political reasons. But never has it faced an attack of this type from a private company.

　　据称美国公司与FREE公司就是否为订阅链接而直接向ISP付费问题进行磋商。网络上，按惯例，类似于FREE的ISP公司向订阅者缴费用以支付网络成本，而非向内容供应商索取费用。谷歌对ISP公司称其不对网络成本直接负责的抱怨习以为常。也习惯于中国政府等政府出于政治原因封锁其服务的行为。

　　Free was showing its clout by threatening to damage Google’s advertising-driven business model in France. Mr Niel’s calculation was that few of his 5m-odd customers would leave just because the default settings deprived them of Google’s ads. Default settings are quite easy to change, after all. Free is also suspected of deliberately choking off its subscribers’ connection to YouTube, Google’s video-streaming service, during peak hours. YouTube takes up lots of bandwidth on the internet, especially as more people choose to watch “Gangnam Style” and “Dumb Ways to Die” in high definition. The telecoms regulator is investigating.

　　FREE公司威胁损坏谷歌在法国的广告驱动商业模式，以展现其影响力。尼尔估计公司的500完用户很少会因为默认拦截谷歌的广告而流失掉。毕竟，默认设置轻易就可以改变。FREE公司也涉嫌高峰时段故意拦截YouTube，谷歌视频流服务链接。YouTube占用大量宽带，尤其当更过的人观看高清版江南Style，蠢蠢的死法的时候。电信监管机构正在介入调查。

　　Mr Niel responded to the accusations last year by pointing out that many YouTube videos can in any case be watched on Dailymotion, a video-sharing website that happens to be French and partly owned by the government.

　　去年，尼尔回应众多指控指出在很多情况下，许多 YouTube视频都可以视频分享网站每日影像上观看。每日影像恰巧是法语播放，并由法国政府部分控股。

　　Advertisers and newspaper websites immediately cried foul and got the government to lean on Free to remove the ad block, which it did on January 8th. Supporters of network neutrality, the idea that the internet’s tubes should treat all packets of data in exactly the same way regardless of origin, denounced Free for trampling on web freedom.

　　广告商和报纸网站立即叫屈，要求政府依靠FREE公司撤销1月8号的拦截。认为持有网络线路无论出处对所有数据包一视同仁这一网络中立观点的支持者谴责FREE公司践踏网络自由。

　　Despite the government’s involvement in ending the block, Mr Niel may have its tacit support for his move against Google. France is already investigating whether the company pays much less tax than it should (it charges French advertisers from its headquarters in Ireland). Free’s strike at Google may even give the hungry finance ministry ideas about how to force it to pay more taxes, says Cédric Manara, a professor of internet law at EDHEC, a French business school.

　　尽管政府介入解除拦截，尼尔针对谷歌的措施将得到背地的支持。法国已经开始调查该公司是否偷税漏税。法国商学院EDHEC的网络法律专家 Cédric Manara表示，FREE针对谷歌的行为甚至会启发困乏的财务部，迫使公司缴纳更多的税款。

　　French newspapers, too, are trying to force Google to pay them for referencing their content. This week Fleur Pellerin, France’s digital minister, said, backing Free, that there are real questions over how web firms contribute to the financing of networks. There will be a government debate on the subject on January 15th.

　　法国报刊也试图迫使谷歌为引用其报刊内容而付费。本周支持FREE公司的法国数据部长Fleur Pellerin表示，网络公司怎样为网络融资出力确实存在争议。1月15日政府将就此展开讨论。

　　Many people expect the fight to continue well after that. The stakes are high. Should Google cave in to Free in France by paying high fees to reach its subscribers, it would face calls to do the same elsewhere. Google can argue that the only reason why ISPs like Free have a business model at all is that people want the content that it and other companies provide.

　　许多人认为此后争斗将持续进行。利益巨大。如果谷歌屈服于法国FREE公司，支付高额费用以沟通用户，他将可能面临其他地方的各种付费要求。谷歌争辩到类似FREE的ISP公司拥有其商业模式的唯一原因在于大众需要谷歌和其他公司提供的内容。

　　Mr Niel will be loth to raise more revenue by charging subscribers more when cheapness is his selling point. Free’s launch of a cheap mobile-phone service last year had a spectacular impact on the French market, notes François Godard of Enders Analysis, a research firm. The average price of all French mobile-phone calls fell by nearly a fifth as millions of people flocked to his new product. For this he is heartily disliked by rival French telecoms bosses. But if he can win against Google, they will be toasting him with champagne.

　　尼尔的卖点在于廉价，因此他不愿向用户收取更多费用增加收益。调查公司 François Godard of Enders Analysis表示，去年，FREE发行了一款便宜的手机服务，对法国市场影响巨大。由于千万的消费者涌向新产品，法国手机平均价格下跌五分之一。与其 竞争的法国电信老总都极为讨厌尼尔。但是，如果他可以胜过谷歌，他们将举杯相庆。

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