Nicholas Thompson Talks to David Remnick About the End of Net Neutrality

On December 14th, the Internet and everything you do on it may change. The commissioners of the F.C.C. are going to vote on regulations about net neutrality: the principle, in place since the advent of the Web, that Internet service providers must treat all content equally. I.S.P.s can’t change data speed to favor some Web sites, or charge different rates for different content. Web sites great and small, including Google, Facebook, and Amazon, are in favor of neutrality, but the telecom companies that deliver Internet service would very much like to do away with it. An end to neutrality would allow them to institute differential pricing strategies, for example, or favor content that the telecoms themselves own. A majority of F.C.C. commissioners are poised to repeal the net-neutrality regulations, but Nicholas Thompson—formerly the editor of NewYorker.com, and now the editor-in-chief of Wired—tells David Remnick that all hope is not lost.