Let's keep up the pressure on the FCC on net neutrality

[Commentary] The expected approval of strong new rules to protect network neutrality is a big victory for consumers, but it's no time to celebrate.

The net neutrality proposal, outlined by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, has some potentially significant holes, and the new rules will only be worthwhile if the agency earnestly enforces them. Meanwhile, the larger struggle for more competitive, consumer-friendly Internet and telecommunications services is far from over, with some big battles looming in the near future. The rules wouldn't explicitly ban connection upgrade charges. Nor would they include a provision to require broadband providers to open their networks to rivals -- something that led to thriving competition in the dial-up Internet market in the 1990s.

The proposal would also continue to allow broadband providers to deliver data services that don't fall under the new, stricter regulatory scheme -- as long as they aren't intermingled with general Internet traffic. Although the FCC promises to keep a close eye on such services, the distinction seems an open invitation to providers to get around the net neutrality rules by setting aside channels in their pipes for their own proprietary services. Such dedicated channels are bad in two ways -- they're anti-competitive, because they give the broadband provider's service a leg up on those of competitors; and they arguably slow Internet speeds by taking away capacity that could be used to carry other, more general Internet traffic.

Those issues aside, there's also a question of how dutifully the FCC will enforce the rules. Activists have charged that the agency has been a reluctant net neutrality enforcer in the past.