Dear readers, It’s officially spring, but the weather is in no way incooperative. Although rain showers are starting to visit more frequently, it’s still quite cold and windy outside. When it’s pouring and gloomy out, even going to the movie theaters is a hassle. Well, what’s better than watching TV in your warm, dry room anyway? Each dorm has free TV cable, which includes the most popular channels. For those without a TV, watching cable television isn’t an option. Luckily, with the Internet, we can take advantage of online streaming TV shows and movies. Most of these services require a monthly subscription fee; some movies are pay per view. A typical movie costs around US$4 to watch on a laptop; that’s about 24 yuan. While watching shows via the Internet provides an abundance of conveniences to users, video streaming has created a massive headache for Internet service providers and others. Video streaming is a process that requires a lot of bandwidth, which causes large amounts of Internet traffic. You may notice your computer slowing down when watching videos online. Video streaming services are essentially taking up more “space” as more people watch videos online, causing traffic. Increased Internet traffic has multiple implications. First, Internet users in general may experience a slower Internet connection. Second, companies that provide online content aren’t able to deliver smoothly or efficiently. Finally, the Internet operator may incur increased costs to manage high amounts of traffic. As a result, some have argued that, to be fair, video streaming companies (and maybe their subscribers) should pay an extra fee for using more bandwidth. By extension, other types of companies that provide online services could also pay for bandwidth usage to secure content delivery. Opponents of this argument say that certain companies should not enjoy priority Internet streaming over others just because they can afford to pay for their traffic. The debate has created a challenge for regulators as well. Video streaming companies have been trying to solve the traffic problem by developing their own dedicated Internet service providers instead of third party ones. Like many other things, the Internet is a useful, but complicated tool that is a challenge to maintain and control. Regardless, on rainy days like these, I’m glad to have such an innovative piece of technology around as I quietly repeat this children’s rhyme: Rain, rain, go away, Come again another day. Sincerely, Bingyin | 