The rules are designed to, in effect, keep the companies that own the internet's real-world infrastructure from slowing down some types of websites or apps -- say, those belonging to a competitor -- or speeding up others for high-paying clients.  For average internet users, the vote affects whether government will guarantee they'll continue to have access to all Web content, regardless of their internet provider's wishes, and whether they'll get that content as quickly as businesses or individuals able to pay more for it.  The commission's agenda said the vote addressed "basic rules of the road to preserve the open internet as a platform for innovation, investment, competition and free expression."  Web freedom advocates argue the vote doesn't do that.  Commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat, signed off on the rules but called them only a "first step in the right direction."  "In my book, today's action could have, and should have, gone further," he said. "Going as far as I would have liked was, however, not in the cards."  For example, he said, the rules won't absolutely prevent broadband providers from "pay for priority" -- giving faster service to those able to pay for it, or to one favored business over another.  Instead, the regulations say those practices "generally violate" nondiscrimination rules.  The vote was along party lines, with the commission's three Democrats voting to "concur" with the rules and its two Republicans voting against them.  Commissioner Robert McDowell, a Republican, called the vote a "radical step" and said it puts the FCC "on a collision course" with the courts, which he predicted will throw the rules out.  "The FCC is not Congress," he said. "We cannot make laws."  Republicans have largely argued the government has no right to interfere with business practices online.  McDowell said "nothing is broken in the internet-access market that needs fixing."
The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday approved "high-level rules of the road" designed to ensure that internet providers grant everyone equal access to the Web.But the 3-2 vote