The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will be voting on the fate of net neutrality this week, Google is planning to create an app that will rival Spotify and Apple Music, and look out for the top 2017 search terms on Google this Wednesday.
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Trending all over the technology subreddit is the upcoming Net Neutrality vote this Thursday in the U.S. The FCC, which is an independent U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications by radio, TV, wire, satellite and cable, and is composed of three Republicans, including chairman Ajit Pai, and two Democrats, is expected to move forward and repeal a decision made during the Obama administration. That decision bars internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking, slowing access to, or charging more for certain content. This has gotten many consumers in the U.S. nervous, with a serious concern being that the repeal may raise internet fees. As expected, ISPs like AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon favor the repeal, while tech companies like Google’s parent company Alphabet, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Netflix oppose it.
From Linkedin – According to Bloomberg, YouTube is planning on introducing a paid music service in March that would rival Spotify and Apple Music. This marks the third attempt at this kind of service from YouTube and Google parent company Alphabet, with the goal being to appease record-industry execs who have pushed for more revenue from the YouTube platform since music is one of the platform’s biggest genres. Supposedly Warner Music Group has already signed on, and YouTube is talks with Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group as well.
And from Google Trends – Google Canada will be releasing its list of what Canadians asked Google in 2017 on Wednesday. This is the search engine’s annual list that boils down billions of searches into a more defined list. Last year saw a rise in searches around the U.S. election, Pokemon Go, and Stranger Things. While we are going to have to wait two days to see the official list, the Hashtag Trending crew is putting its money on Trump, Bitcoin, Gord Downie, and Despacito.
That’s what’s trending today. Hashtag Trending is produced by IT World Canada. Today’s episode is sponsored by Cogeco Peer 1, the company that enables businesses to unlock their IT potential. Learn more at CP1.com.