Republicans are offering a deal on net neutrality. Democrats should take it seriously.

[Commentary] Democrats and liberal activists think they can get what they want on network neutrality without new legislation. Meanwhile, the Republicans who favor compromise face pressure from purists who oppose any legislation that would impose network neutrality regulations on the Internet. That's a shame.

The Internet deserves a more certain resolution to the net neutrality fight than Washington is giving it. The whole point of network neutrality regulations is to create a predictable environment for online content producers. Network neutrality rules that could expire in 2017 won't give Internet content providers the same kind of confidence that permanent rules could provide. A legislative compromise would leave both sides unsatisfied, but it would also provide some certainty about how the Internet will be regulated in the future. That would give content companies and network providers alike the confidence to invest, knowing that their plans won't be disrupted by another change in the rules.