In 2003, Columbia media law professor Tim Wu coined the term “net neutrality” which describes the idea that internet traffic should be treated equally, regardless of user, content, site, etc. In Wu’s article, he states, “communications regulators over the next decade will spend increasing time on conflicts between the private interests of broadband providers and the public’s interest in a competitive innovation environment centered on the internet.” This couldn’t be more true, since on May 15th, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on the future of internet.

Over 100 tech companies have responded to this “grave threat to the internet” with a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, opposing plans to allow content carriers to pay ISP’s more for faster delivery speeds. What seems to be a recent example of this discrimination came in February, when Comcast and Netflix reached an undisclosed agreement to provide their customers with a “more direct connection [between the two companies].” While they stated that there would be no preferential treatment given to Netflix, the precedent is worrisome.

While one FCC commissioner, Jessica Rosenworcel, has called for a delay of the vote, such a measure does not look promising and the principles on which the internet was built will be in danger this Thursday. We can only hope that the tens of thousands of comments sent to FCC, the urges of the likes of Google, Facebook, and Amazon, and the protests scheduled to be at the FCC headquarters will be enough to preserve the level playing field that exists for today’s internet startups.

It’s good to stay informed about these decisions as they can affect how we use the amazing resource that is the internet. But let’s move on to this week’s articles, which will focus on how we store the huge chunks of data that are your backups, getting the most out of your Retina Display, and the troublesome tale of one tech’s VPN.

-Mike
miked@smalldog.com