The war you've never heard of

                                                    gigaom.com

We are in the middle of a war that is monumental to our nation's future. And it's being waged not with bayonets, but with bandwidth.

Since its founding the internet has been a free place, where the mice have just as much access as the giants. But just over a month ago, a court decision sparked a war that called into question the very ideals on which our internet was founded. What's at stake? Our precious hours of Netflix binge-watching, and an internet democracy at risk of devolving into a trafficking tyranny. Seeing as the outcome will have massive ramifications on my ability to procrastinate, I've summed up the major events and battles that have brought us to today.

The Players:
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) -- Verizon, Comcast, etc.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Content Providers -- Netflix, Hulu, Google, etc.
U.S. Courts
The Obama administration 
Commonfolk (internet users)

Dec. 2010- The FCC decrees that ISPs must treat all internet traffic equally

Jan. 14- A U.S. appeals court strikes down the FCC's "net neutrality" law, opening the door for ISPs to discriminate when charging for bandwidth

Jan. 21- Netflix CEO Reed Hastings threatens to "vigorously protest" any attempt by ISPs to seize his bandwidth

Jan. 31- President Obama firmly sides with net neutrality and says he's confident the FCC will use force to save it, if necessary

Feb. 5- Verizon denies allegations on the homefront that it punishes services like Netflix that hog bandwidth, insisting it treats all traffic equally

Feb. 13- Comcast joins forces with Time Warner Cable, allying two of the country's largest and strongest broadband providers

Feb. 14 - Netflix releases season two of House of Cards

Feb. 18- Netflix customers on the Eastern front complain about sluggish video speeds

Feb. 19- The FCC decrees "no blocking" rules to prevent ISPs from hindering access

The war rages on, with no certain future. Wealthy empires hold the key to our viewing pleasure, and the laws that once kept them at bay have been toppled. Can the government intervene and protect our free content? Or will the commonfolk suffer slow speeds amidst a war of power and profit? Only time will tell.

~Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Bandwidth~