The Switch: The head of the FCC just proposed the strongest net neutrality rules ever

Today's technology and tech policy news  •  Wed., Feb. 4, 2015 View in your Web browser

The head of the FCC just proposed the strongest net neutrality rules ever The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission just said he's proposing the "strongest open Internet protections" the Web has ever seen.In a Wired op-ed, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler announced he wants to regulate Internet providers with the most aggressive tool at his disposal: Title II of the Communications Act. In addition to covering fixed broadband providers such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the draft rules would cover wireless providers such as T-Mobile and Sprint. The rules would also make speeding up or slowing down Web traffic — a tactic known as prioritization — illegal. And it would ban the blocking of Web traffic outright.  Read full article »

Remember Netflix’s deal with Comcast? The FCC’s proposal on net neutrality could overturn agreements like those.

Even as we mull over the broader implications of the FCC's new net neutrality proposal, let's highlight a slice of it to get an idea of what this could mean for companies such as Netflix.A key part of the Federal Communications Commission's draft rules would cover the Internet backbone -- also known as the middle-mile Internet — a crucial part of the Web that's responsible for ferrying data to your Internet provider, which then turns around and serves that data to you. Without the middle mile, you couldn't get Netflix videos because basically there would be no way for Netflix to get those videos to your Internet provider.  Read full article »

As Elon Musk tries for another incredible rocket landing, a glimpse of the future

The last time Elon Musk tried to pull off an incredible landing from space, the rocket crashed and exploded in an awesome fireball. Now he’s going for it again.If SpaceX, his startup space company, can land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean Sunday evening, it will mark a huge step toward developing rockets that perform like airplanes--fly, land and fly again—instead of crashing and burning up after one use.  Read full article »

Innovations: How Doonesbury helped make Pandora a success

Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren was speaking at 1776 Tuesday night when he was asked about the hilarious Saturday Night Live sketch in which Bruno Mars plays a Pandora intern. Westergren described the sketch as a relief, as the music service feared it would be roasted. Everyone at the company loved it, but the sketch didn’t make a significant impact on the company’s growth, according to Westergren. The only time that happened was with two newspaper comic strips in 2007. Here’s Westergren’s explanation:  Read full article »

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