The FCC wants to carve out a fast lane for those who can afford it, is this the end of Net Neutrality, or are we all over reacting? We’ll analyze the situation.

Pro-Russian militants overtake more Ukraine Government buildings, and the new government is calling uncle.

Plus Colorado re-thinks their edible Cannabis rules, but something smells fishy, our follow up, and much much more!

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— Show Notes —

NSA is Crazy

Snowden hired an Espionage Act defense lawyer to work on a U.S. plea deal

Whistleblower Edward Snowden reportedly hired a lawyer in an attempt to cut a plea deal with the U.S. government.

Plato Cacheris, regarded as an expert in the Espionage Act—violation of which is the main charge brought against Snowden—has been working for Snowden since he leaked a host of National Security Agency documents last summer, according to the New York Times.

The End of Net Neutrality

F.C.C., in a Shift, Backs Fast Lanes for Web Traffic

The Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday that it would propose new rules that allow companies like Disney, Google or Netflix to pay Internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon for special, faster lanes to send video and other content to their customers.

FCC’s new net neutrality proposal: What do we really know?

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal is scheduled to be released to the public on May 15, when the commission plans to vote on the first step in a long process to reinstate net neutrality rules shot down by an appeals court in January.

The first criticisms of Wheeler’s proposal came shortly after the Wall Street Journal broke a story Wednesday saying the FCC proposal would allow broadband providers to charge Web businesses for access to their fastest service.

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler.

The 1,300-word story was short on details, with only one or two paragraphs describing the proposal, and most of the rest of the story focused on reactions and on the history of the net neutrality fight.

• Franken says FCC Net neutrality proposal would “destroy” open Internet

Sen. Al Franken criticized as “misguided” a plan being considered by the FCC’s head to let companies pay for preferential access to ISPs, warning that it would “destroy” the concept of an open Internet.

In a letter sent to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on Tuesday, Franken said that the idea would constitute “an affront to Net neutrality and have no place in an online marketplace that values competition and openness.”

“Your proposal would grant Verizon, Comcast, and other ISPs the power to pick winners and losers on the Internet, which violates core Net neutrality principles that you have publicly supported in the past. Although you claim that this proposal is not a ”turnaround,“ it is difficult to understand how it does not flatly contradict your own Commission’s Open Internet Order.”

• FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Hits Back at ‘Net Neutrality’ Critics

In a strongly-worded and occasionally defensive blog post published Tuesday, Wheeler declared that he is a “strong believer in the importance of an Open Internet,” and said that his priority is to quickly craft new net neutrality rules that would withstand legal challenges.

What will happen at the FCC meeting on May 15?

The FCC is scheduled to vote on a notice of proposed rulemaking, or NPRM, addressing the new net neutrality plan. In an NPRM, the commission releases a set of proposals and asks for public comment on them. It’s the first step in a long process for the FCC to pass new regulations.

Because of the controversy over the proposal, the FCC has already begun taking email comments at openinternet@fcc.gov.

After Comcast, Netflix signs traffic deal with Verizon

Netflix just confirmed that it will pay Verizon for direct access through the carrier’s network, allowing for improved streaming video for customers. According to a brief statement, “We have reached an interconnect arrangement with Verizon that we hope will improve performance for our joint customers over the coming months.” The announcement mirrors a similar peering deal inked earlier this year made by Netflix and Comcast, and likely won’t be the last of its kind.

• Netflix US & Canada Blog: The Case Against ISP Tolls

For a content company such as Netflix, paying an ISP like Comcast for interconnection is not the same as paying for Internet transit. Transit networks like Level3, XO, Cogent and Tata perform two important services: (1) they carry traffic over long distances and (2) they provide access to every network on the global Internet. When Netflix connects directly to the Comcast network, Comcast is not providing either of the services typically provided by transit networks.

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Ukraine

Ukrainian President Says Security Forces ‘Helpless’ Against Militias in East – NYTimes.com

As pro-Russian gunmen seized another city in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, the country’s acting president said that the government’s police and security officials were “helpless” to control events in large swaths of the region, where at least a dozen cities are now in the hands of separatists.

With the admission by the country’s acting leader, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, that major chunks of the country had slipped from the government’s grasp, the long-simmering conflict in Ukraine seemed to enter a new and more dangerous phase.

Kerry: U.S. Taped Moscow’s Calls to Its Ukraine Spies

Recording “Obtained” by the Daily Beast

The United States has proof that the Russian government in Moscow is running a network of spies inside eastern Ukraine because the U.S. government has recordings of their conversations, Secretary of State John Kerry said in a closed-door meeting Friday.

“Intel is producing taped conversations of intelligence operatives taking their orders from Moscow and everybody can tell the difference in the accents, in the idioms, in the language. We know exactly who’s giving those orders, we know where they are coming from,” Kerry said at a private meeting of the Trilateral Commission in Washington. A recording of Kerry’s remarks was obtained by The Daily Beast.

• Republicans Launch New Push To Arm Ukraine

Senate Republicans are pressing the Obama administration to do more to help Ukraine and hurt Russia and are introducing a new bill that would provide for weapons, sanctions, and more aid.

• The Obama Administration pushing hard to have us belive Russia is hurting from sanctions

Russia’s foreign exchange reserves were drained of a record $63 billion in the first quarter of the year, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said Wednesday in an address to the lower house of the parliament.
If that pace continues, losses this year would surpass the $120 billion Russia lost in 2008 at the height of the global recession.

• But Russia’s Economy was already slowing

Last year, Russia’s economy grew 1.3 percent, its weakest rate in the past 13 years with the exception of 2009, when the country suffered in the global downturn. The growth slowed further this year as investors pulled money out of the county amid concerns over Russia’s policy in Ukraine.

Supreme Court Considers Limits On Warrantless Cellphone Searches

At Tuesday’s Supreme Court argument, Riley’s lawyer, Jeffrey Fisher, told the justices that the Founding Fathers never intended to allow such wide-ranging searches without a warrant. The warrantless search at the time of arrest, he noted, was to protect the officer’s safety and to prevent the destruction of evidence.

• Initial impressions from the oral argument in the Supreme Court cell phone search cases

This morning, I attended the Supreme Court arguments in the cell phone search cases, United States v. Wurie and Riley v. California. Here are some initial impressions of the argument

Weed Wackers:

Colorado eyes regulating marijuana edibles serving size after two deaths

Two recent Colorado deaths have been associated with legal edible marijuana products, and state regulators may now step in to better regulate portion sizes.

A 19-year-old student visiting the state on spring break jumped to his death off of a hotel balcony in March after eating 65mg of THC in a pot cookie. In April, a 47-year-old man fatally shot his wife in the head while high from candy marijuana edibles.

• Marijuana-infused-food rules in Colorado examined after deaths

Ten milligrams of THC is considered a serving size of the drug, but Colorado has no requirement that edibles be packaged in single servings, at least for now.

• State group debating THC levels in retail marijuana products, ‘edibles,’

10mg of THC is considered roughly equivalent to the amount in a medium-sized joint.

In Washington state, where retail sales don’t begin until July, edible pot products will have the same 10mg serving size, with a maximum of 10 servings per package, said Brian Smith of the Washington State Liquor Control Board, which is regulating recreational pot sales.

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