Net Neutrality

(52:18) Guest: Michael Hiltzik, Columnist for the LA Times  After a year of deliberation and millions of public comments, the Federal Communications Commission has decided that access to the internet is a lot like a phone service and so internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon are now going to be regulated like phone companies. Just like the phone company can’t give certain calls priority over others based on the content or destination of your call, internet companies won’t be allowed to give preferential treatment to certain content or websites. So, for example, Comcast won’t be able to strike a deal with Netflix that guarantees you get faster broadband when you’re streaming the latest House of Cards episode while the person next door has their speed slowed down because they’re streaming on a site that doesn’t have a deal with Comcast. This is called Net Neutrality and it’s had the tech industry tied up in knots for months as the FCC deliberated over the decision.  “Internet access has become so engrained in what we do every day, it’s something that we now view as crucial to the way we live and work. The FCC now believes it should be regulated as a utility,” says Hiltzik.  “It allows more competition for the Netflix and YouTubers of the world to arise,” says Hiltzik.