Without such restrictions, many consumer advocates say the Internet will change from being an open, democratic network to a closed system, as NPR's Laura Sydell reports.

NPR: Congress Votes Against Internet Neutrality Bill

Though Symbian's certainly not getting as much share of the mobile discussion these days as some of its smaller competitors, it's certainly important to keep in mind that these guys have software deployed on literally hundreds of millions of devices, making this perhaps the largest-scale conversion of a closed operating system to open source in history.

ENGADGET: Symbian Foundation talks about its move to open source

While Apple is a closed system, Google is open.

FORBES: Steve Jobs resigns, Google even more Googlishious

Energy operators also must meet with homeowners and others who live within 1, 000 feet of their proposed projects to listen to their concerns, not use open pits to store drilling waste and ensure their venting system is closed to prevent sending methane into the air.

WSJ: As energy boom nears cities, a backlash grows

While Apple under Steve Jobs focused on its Macintosh closed system of hardware, software, and applications, Microsoft built an open market system on Windows: any hardware, any application, many ways to make money.

FORBES: Steve Jobs Is A Market Systems Master

The snag was that bureaucrats insisted on keeping this a closed system, even after it became clear to everyone else that the future belonged to open networks like the internet.

FORBES: Innovation Works Best When Government Does Least