• Fast Company et al, Tuesday, September 22, 2009 2 PM

In a bid to formalize the concept of net neutrality, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission outlined rules on Monday that would prohibit Internet providers from selectively blocking content and applications online. With still a month left before an FCC panel votes on whether to turn the guidelines into official commission rules, the media and blogosphere took the move as an opportunity to sound off on the issue.

"Almost as significant, and in a bit of a surprise, [FCC Chair Julius Genachowski] made clear the rules would cover wireless as well as wired networks," notes MercuryNews.com. "With mobile computing and smart phones emerging as one of the most profound innovations of our generation, it's essential that these networks be kept open so that this market can continue to flourish."

GigaOm picks up on opposing views from Republican FCC commissioners Robert McDowell and Meredith Baker, who said of Monday's development: "Curiously, today's speech appears to admit that the Commission did not have enforeable [sic] rules at the time of last year's Comcast/BitTorrent decision while the Commission simultaneously files its appellate brief defending that decision."

If you're interested in hearing how the ISPs (like Comcast) and carriers (like Verizon) are responding, Venture Beat and Business Weekhave got you covered.

"All told," writes Engadget, "these are some big policy changes, and while we're excited that the FCC is this gung-ho about net neutrality -- seriously, Genachowski comes off as the best kind of fanboy in his followup HuffPo editorial, it's kind of awesome -- we're still only cautiously optimistic, since the rulemaking process has only just begun and there are some potentially huge loopholes for network management and prevention of copyright infringement."

Adds Fast Company: "There's also a wonderful, if subtle, alternative thing to think about concerning this news -- or, specifically, how it's delivered ... The FCC is not known to be a massively communicative beast ... But Genachowski's speech was uploaded in its entirety before he made it at the OpenInternet.gov website, and a live screen-cast was also broadcast via the same service ... This is an incredibly powerful display of communication to the public, perhaps drawing its power from the fact we're not all that used to such openness."

Read the whole story at Fast Company et al »