Here lies the Internet. It was born – in bits and packets, one might say – throughout the later decades of the 20th century, and was beaten and left for dead on May 15, 2014.

That epitaph shouldn't be carved in stone just yet. But it could be, soon enough, unless the Federal Communications Commission sees the light over the next several months and reverses itself on its latest, badly flawed proposal that would turn the open Internet into a toll road.

No worries, advocates of this approach say. Allowing some to pay to ride on fast lanes isn't shutting anyone out or forcing them into the slower lanes.

There's a pre-Internet expression that still serves as appropriate response today: Horse hockey.

The best way to hear the pronouncements of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler or one of his backers is to remember those offscreen adults on the old "Peanuts" TV cartoon specials. "Waanh-waanh, waanh-waanh, waanh-waanh," they'd drone on, their sounds absolutely without meaning.

The FCC's plan, Wheeler claims, would keep service providers from blocking or slowing content from some sites. But this is true in theory alone. Once special lanes are created for those who are willing and able to pay the fare, others will be left waiting, leaving openness and innovation – the hallmarks of the 'net – out in the cold.

The real problem stems from a technicality. Because federal courts have ruled that the FCC has the legal authority to oversee this but not that, X but not Y, those with an interest in promoting their own version of success on the Internet have been able to win legal challenges against earlier FCC efforts.

But there's an easy fix: Reclassifying broadband as a public utility would grant the FCC regulatory authority. Plain. Simple. End of the game instead of the end of the Internet.

The FCC plan won't become official for four months. While there's still time – and an open Internet –the people need to mobilize, urging regulators to do their job.