FCC

As more of daily life moves to the Internet, the political implications of software design become more apparent. A case is point: the Russian government's practice of seizing computers from various citizen advocacy groups because they allegedly contain "pirated" Microsoft software.

A federal court ruling this week opens up the door to a chilling possibility — that cable and telephone companies might be able to interfere with transmissions of Internet traffic to suit their own business purposes. Paying partners could get "fast lane" service while the rest of us are shunted into "slow lanes." Objectionable transmissions could be interfered with or blocked.

A new report on the unlicensed “white spaces” of the electro-magnetic spectrum makes a point that broadcasters and property-rights ideologues have trouble acknowledging that using spectrum as a commons can be tremendously productive. It can serve important social needs and generate wealth more efficiently than if the spectrum is controlled by companies with exclusive property rights in it.