FCC's goal: An open and vibrant Internet

[Commentary] The fight over the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality rules is often billed as a battle over whether to regulate the Internet. In reality, it's more of a debate over how to preserve the Web's defining features.

Opponents say the rules, which are slated to take effect Nov. 20, will stifle the investment and innovation that have characterized the Internet since its inception. Proponents say the opposite, arguing that the rules deter service providers from turning the innovative, vibrant online world into a cable-TV-like service dominated by powerful commercial interests. Because there have been only a few instances of ISPs improperly interfering with data, the commission's critics say the neutrality rules needlessly target a nonexistent problem. But a court ruling last year made it clear that without formal rules, the commission cannot stop ISPs from even egregious acts of favoritism and interference. As bandwidth-hogging video sites and services proliferate online, broadband providers will have a growing financial incentive to make sites pay more to reach their customers. And with most consumers having few options for broadband, there's not enough competition to hold ISPs in check. Those options will expand if Congress ever manages to provide spectrum for new wireless broadband services. Until then, however, the commission's rules would do more to preserve innovation and openness on the Internet than would a resolution that ties its hands.