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    Tech Time

    Internet searches might not be so free anymore: Why restricted access suddenly looms as the new norm

    Bill Van Rysdam
    Jan 25, 2014 | 2:34 pm

    Your Internet experience could be very different after the most recent ruling on the issue of net neutrality. As CultureMap previously reported, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled against the Federal Communications Commission’s attempt to keep the flow of information on an equal access basis.

     

    The Federal Communications Commission had attempted to impose penalties based on net neutrality principles and not regulations.

     

    After that ruling the Federal Communications Commission went back and drew up regulations to address this issue, but those have also been shot down recently by the same court. They determined that companies that provide broadband services are not required to offer equal access to Internet content.

     

    The ruling was based on a 2005 US Supreme Court decision that broadband services are not to be classified as telecommunications services and its infrastructure is not considered a public right of way.

     

    So what does this mean to the average person?

     
     

      Much like Don Quixote, the chairman may be tilting at windmills. 

     
     

    For one, this opens the door for broadband companies like Verizon, AT&T and others to charge access fees to Internet content providers like Google, Netflix and much smaller sites. They could also offer priority access through their networks, ensuring companies that provide streaming services don’t buffer when network congestion is like traffic on the West Loop during rush hour.

     

    All this will create additional expenses to those companies which will no doubt be passed along to you, the consumer. And it also opens the door to broadband providers blocking sites that refuse to pay the fees. Without regulation, you could wind up not being able to access sites because they don’t have an agreement with your Internet provider. (Much like the on-going fight over carriage fees between CSN Houston and cable providers.)

     

    So do we rely on the government to create new laws to address net neutrality, or do we let the free market play out and let the chips fall where they may?

     

    Federal Communications Commission chairman Thomas Wheeler said in a statement that the commission "will consider all available options, including those for appeal, to ensure that these networks on which the Internet depends continue to provide a free and open platform for innovation and expression." But, much like Don Quixote, the chairman may be tilting at windmills.

     
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    the future of surgery

    Houston hospital performs first fully robotic heart transplant in the U.S.

    Laura Furr Mericas, InnovationMap
    Jul 3, 2025 | 9:30 am
    Baylor College of Medicine Robotic Heart Transplant
    Courtesy of Baylor College of Medicine
    Dr. Kenneth Liao and a team at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center used a surgical robot to implant a new heart in a patient.

    A team at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, led by Dr. Kenneth Liao, successfully performed the first fully robotic heart transplant in the United States earlier this year, the Houston hospital recently shared.

    Liao, a professor and chief of cardiothoracic transplantation and circulatory support at Baylor College of Medicine and chief of cardiothoracic transplantation and mechanical circulatory support at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, used a surgical robot to implant a new heart in a 45-year-old male patient through preperitoneal space in the abdomen by making small incisions.

    The robotic technology allowed the medical team to avoid opening the chest and breaking the breast bone, which reduces the risk of infection, blood transfusions and excessive bleeding. It also leads to an easier recovery, according to Liao.

    "Opening the chest and spreading the breastbone can affect wound healing and delay rehabilitation and prolong the patient's recovery, especially in heart transplant patients who take immunosuppressants," Liao said in a news release. "With the robotic approach, we preserve the integrity of the chest wall, which reduces the risk of infection and helps with early mobility, respiratory function and overall recovery."

    The patient received the heart transplant in March, after spending about four months in the hospital due to advanced heart failure. According to Baylor, he was discharged home after recovering from the surgery in the hospital for a month without complications.

    "This transplant shows what is possible when innovation and surgical experience come together to improve patient care," Liao added in the release. "Our goal is to offer patients the safest, most effective and least invasive procedures, and robotic technology allows us to do that in extraordinary ways."

    ---

    This story originally was published on our sister site, InnovationMap.

    medical researchbaylor college of medicine
    news/innovation

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