It is hard to reach old age in Silicon Valley: your technology goes stale, and young bruisers such as Google and Apple kick away your zimmer frame.

Google acknowledges that it is trying to prod the industry into building better networks so that Americans can have access to technologies that need more bandwidth.

TWO firms want to redefine the Internet. Or so it seems, judging by the "legislative framework proposal" that Google and Verizon, an American telecoms operator, published on August 9th.