The Open Internet Has A Great Day -- But It's Only Day 1

[Commentary] Net Neutrality is a complicated-sounding term for something very simple. The companies that carry your Internet traffic shouldn't be allowed to play favorites. At its root, that's the deal. It's a concept that has been an integral part of communications (and transportation) law for more than 100 years. And yet, the announcement today by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski that he wants the basic concept of an open, non-discriminatory network to apply to access to the Internet was greeted by the big telecom companies and two FCC Commissioners as some sort of radical proposal that could upset not only the U.S., but the world. In fact, as Genachowski made clear, the Internet was designed to be open, was designed to make sure that telecom networks can't play favorites. His plan is elegantly simple: make the four "principles" the FCC has more or less followed for the past four years into formal, enforceable rules, and add two more - forbidding carriers like AT&T or Comcast to discriminate against Web sites and require more transparency in how they operate their networks.