Fred Wilson: “It is very unfortunate that the most important leader in Europe is against net neutrality”

Fred Wilson, managing partner at New York-based Venture Capital firm Union Square Ventures, is one of the few investors that I closely pay attention to. One obvious reason is that he blogs on an almost daily basis, what very few of his colleagues in the VC business do. But more importantly, Wilson is a great thinker who seems to have a more holistic approach to his job than just turning a bit money into lots of money, no matter how (I do not know him personally, I am judging based on his public appearance).

Wilson is also a big supporter of net neutrality. The other day, at the LeWeb conference in Paris, he said some very important words (from about 14:30, embed below):

“You had Merkel basically coming out against net neutrality yesterday. I think the governmental leaders in Europe are anti-innovation. That’s unfortunate. It is very unfortunate that the most important leader in Europe is against net neutrality. It is very upsetting to me. She is wrong, and if she would give me a meeting with her I would tell her why she is wrong. Which I won’t get.”

In his blog posts and keynotes Wilson always shows a lot of humility and understatement. I would not see it as an impossible thing at all for him to get that meeting. Even though I do not count myself as a fan of Merkel, my impression is that she always appreciates speaking with smart minds from industries that she is not an expert in.

I do not know whether this would change anything, but seeing Europe struggling in building a sustainable digital future and hearing Merkel’s stance against net neutrality, I think she and Wilson really should meet!

P.S. after his LeWeb remarks I would not be surprised if Wilson already received a slot in Merkel’s calendar. At least I hope.