US internet lifelines face a tough test

With the in-person economy in the US essentially shut down, the internet has never been more critical. The key question now is how well the network can handle the unprecedented demand. Europe's networks have already come under strain, and if cloud services and internet service providers here falter, "shelter in place" could get a lot rougher. As hard as things are right now, just think how much better off we are now than if this crisis happened two decades ago, before Amazon Prime, streaming video and video conferencing — and before the network delivering all these services had been built up to the speed and capacity they require.