Federal regulators next week are expected to seek to turn controversial “net neutrality” principles into formal rules intended to give the nation’s computer users the right to use whatever services and devices they like without interference from their ISPs.

(FCC Expected To Announce Support of Net Neutrality Monday, Wired, 09/18/09)

This is (Hey Bernie) HUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGE! (If indeed it really comes to pass.) Having ISPs serve us as (hopefully, someday) virtual autobahns while leaving it up to us how to make use of those highways is, I believe, democracy’s last gasp … we may get off the ventilator yet.

The downside? As pointed out in this thread regarding Entergy Yankee and nuclear monitoring, it’s all in who crafts the rules of the road.

Nonetheless I will celebrate if indeed we get a formal federal declaration of net neutrality.