Obama's plan for network neutrality makes perfect sense

[Commentary] President Barack Obama urged the Federal Communications Commission to regulate the Internet under what is called “Title II of the Communications Act of 1934.” The call for Title II was immediately misunderstood and widely criticized. “Why should we tie the Internet to something set up 80 years ago?” the skeptics ask. It turns out there are several good reasons, and they get to the heart of how the Internet helps our economy.

The most important issue is simply the cost and speed of the Internet connections that Internet Service Providers offer to their customers. This has nothing to do with so-called “paid prioritization,” the question of fast lanes versus slow lanes. For most Americans, basic cost and speed is much more important. And it is easier to understand what is at stake. Why turn to the Telecommunications Act of 1934 to regulate the Internet of tomorrow? Because large portions of it still apply. The economics of spanning sparsely populated areas with telecommunications networks haven’t changed much in the past 80 years, and neither have the challenges of too little competition.

[Brodwin is a cofounder and board member of American Sustainable Business Council]