Brian Feldman

[Commentary] Among the many fragile regulatory frameworks being attacked with sledgehammers by the Trump Administration is “network neutrality,” a very important issue that will dictate how the internet evolves (or doesn’t) for years to come. The problem, though, is that net neutrality is very tough to sell as important to people, because it is one of the most boring topics in the world.

Net neutrality is a fight over whether your cable company gets to screw you. That’s the one sentence you need to remember. If you support net neutrality, you want to prevent cable companies from screwing over their customers by slowing down certain websites. If you support the Federal Communications Commission rolling back Title II regulations, you support the ability of cable companies to slow down the websites you love to visit.

[Commentary] At around eight o’clock am Sept 19, anyone in New York City who has emergency alerts turned on got a blaring message on their smartphone. It reads: "WANTED: Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28-yr-old male. See media for pic. Call 9–1–1 if seen." This is an extremely bad push alert to blast across the greater New York area. Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs for short), are to be used, according to the Federal Communications Commission, in three cases: Amber Alerts, alerts from the president, and alerts involving imminent threats to safety. This alert serves none of those purposes. It even acknowledges its own shortcomings: “See media for pic” is a stilted way of saying “Um, Google it.” It provides no useful contextual information, warns of no imminent danger. It essentially deputizes the five boroughs and encourages people to treat anyone who looks like he might be named “Ahmad Khan Rahami” with suspicion. In a country where people are routinely harassed and assaulted for just appearing to be Muslim, this is remarkably ill-advised.