Wesleyan students, faculty and staff attended a discussion on “The Historic Decision on Net Neutrality, and What it Means for the Future” Nov. 10 in the Public Affairs Center. Net neutrality is a central issue of freedom of speech and access on the Internet.
In February 2015, the FCC voted to uphold net neutrality and forbade Internet providers from charging some users to access “fast lanes” while forcing others into “slow lanes.” This was the single-most important issue surrounding the Internet, and the most important decision made by the FCC about the Internet, of the past decade.Panelists included, from left, Christiaan Hogendorn, associate professor of economics; Brad Burnham ‘77, managing partner at Union Square Ventures; and Jessica Rosenworcel ’93, Federal Communications Commissions Commissioner. Burnham majored in political science at Wesleyan and started working in information technology with AT&T in 1979. Rosenworcel was nominated for a seat on the FCC by President Barack Obama in 2012. Prior to joining the agency, Rosenworcel served as senior communications counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.Hogendorn is an expert on the economics of infrastructure industries, especially telecommunications and the Internet. He teaches classes in industrial organization, the economics of technology, and microeconomic theory. The event was sponsored by the Allbritton Center’s Right Now! Series and moderated by Norm Danner, associate professor of computer science. (Photos by Rebecca Goldfarb Terry ’19)
Olivia Drake
James Sims
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Ziba Kashef