The Federal Communications Commission is expected to vote on Thursday to regulate the Internet as a public good, the New York Times reports, and Republican lawmakers who have opposed the impending decision are backing down.

Yesterday, President Obama waded into the ongoing—and somewhat confusing—debate about “net neutrality.” If you’re curious why this matters, or what “net neutrality” actually means, this explainer is for you.

Net neutrality sounds boring, but it's the only thing standing between us and an internet where cable companies dictate which content goes in the "fast lane" (their own) and which will be delivered very, very slowly (Netflix). On the latest Last Week Tonight, John Oliver broke down all the ways major cable companies intend to fuck you, the consumer.

As you've undoubtedly heard, earlier this week the FCC reportedly threatened to change the rules on net neutrality. Here's a good overview of why that's wrong and why you should care, and here's a petition you can sign about it.

Social conservative and evangelical David Barton is against net neutrality because he says it goes against the principles of Ben Franklin, the Pilgrims, and the Bible.

When the FCC approved its net neutrality rules earlier this year, it pissed off just about everyone. The House of Representatives were definitely not thrilled: A bill was passed today that would strike down the FCC's net neutrality rules.

The Federal Communications Commission today approved rules discouraging internet access providers from charging websites for favorable treatment. That might sound like a good thing, but it's actually a terrible surrender to big business, or alternatively a communist plot.

The Federal Communications Commission is now expected to approve a watered down version of net neutrality tomorrow, preventing internet service providers from discriminating between websites. It's a nice gift for internet activists, who have been pushing for this for years.

Google's deal with Verizon to end net neutrality has clearly become on of the most pressing issues of the day. How do we know? Because it's gotten the Taiwanese Animation treatment, of course. Check out Eric Schmidt's devil horns inside.

On tonight's Daily Show, Jon Stewart addressed the Google-Verizon deal that may end net neutrality. After addressing the details, including a Google slam or two, Stewart got to the real heart of things: how will this affect surfing for porn?

The recent Google deal that may end net neutrality got us thinking about Sandra Bullock's classic 1995 thriller, The Net. Specifically, what would a trailer for The Net look like if it was made today? We decided to find out.

On tonight's Countdown, Keith Olbermann welcomed CNET's Caroline McCarthy to talk about the new Google-Verizon "deal with the devil" that may end net neutrality as we know it. As you might have guessed, Keith isn't a fan of the possibility.

Google announced a much-anticipated deal with Verizon that calls on the Federal Communications Commission to enforce an open and equal internet — except when it comes to wireless networks and new types of services. Confused hand-wringing has already begun.

A federal appeals court struck a blow against "net neutrality," saying the FCC overstepped its jurisdiction when requiring cable companies to treat all websites equally. This is bad news for YouTube and Hulu fans, but not all is lost.

According to American popular intellectual Glenn Beck, "Net Neutrality" is a Marxist plot to control content, on the internet, by which he means that the jackbooted Obama storm troopers want to take away your World Net Daily.

Happy Birthday, Internet! This September marks the 40th anniversary of our virtual god, and, as happens with the marching of time, it faces some changes. The scope and impact of those potential changes remains to be seen, but they're scary!

The FCC is having its own vote today, on whether or not to allow future wireless gadgets to operate in parts of the radio spectrum already in use by wireless microphones. Google is all for the new spectrum-sharing policy. Professional musicians and their audio engineers are dead set against it.In theory, smartphones will detect when a wireless mic is in use in the area, and not interfere with it. In practice, who are they kidding? New York City's Broadway League is campaigning to keep that part of the radio spectrum free for roughly 450 wireless microphones used in Manhattan's theater district. Out here, I'll be furious if Journey's next show at Shoreline is ruined when 853 Google employees check their mail during "Wheel in the Sky." (Photo by Getty Images/Justin Sullivan)

There are two acceptable political affiliations if you work at Google: Hyperlibertarian Paultard, or reflexively Democratic Obamamaniac. Vint Cerf, one of the guys who actually created the Internet back when it was a Pentagon-sponsored research project, and now works at Google as vice president in charge of being the guy who created the Internet, has put himself in the latter camp by officially endorsing Obama. Since Cerf is such a powerful voice, he might as well be speaking on behalf of Google itself. But the reason he's throwing Google in the Obama camp is painfully shallow and self-serving.It's all about net neutrality. What's "net neutrality"? As far as we can tell, it's a bunch of rhetoric that amounts to regulations that affirm Google's God-given right to avoid giving Internet service providers a cut of advertising revenues. An Obama presidency would mean Google can save money on lobbying fees. Well, times are tough, and every penny counts. It's good to know that even the saintly Vint Cerf votes on pocketbook issues. He's the father of the Internet, and he approved this message.

Bell Canada, which was accused of throttling peer-to-peer file sharing traffic, was order to release details of their bandwidth management procedure by Canadian officials. Did it work? Kinda. Backbone congestion improved, but local loop backups — the kind that more directly affect users — actually got worst. Bell argued that even after spending $110 million in unplanned capital improvements to the network, 790,000 users would have had congested connections by 2009. Who was responsible for vetting those expenditures? Likely incoming Google CFO Patrick Pichette. [Ars Technica]

Well, the Internet was fun while it lasted, but now three of the nation's largest service providers are going to shut it down and throw us all back to the dark ages of telephones and postage stamps. "Some people use the Internet simply to check e-mail and look up phone numbers. Others are online all day, downloading big video and music files. For years, both kinds of Web surfers have paid the same price for access. But now three of the country's largest Internet service providers are threatening to clamp down on their most active subscribers by placing monthly limits on their online activity."