Alternative solutions
In a speech delivered at SES Chicago, reformed telco executive David S. Isenberg, author of the influential essay "The Rise of the Stupid Network: Why the Intelligent Network was a Good Idea Once but isn't Anymore," said the telcos are "declaring war against Google, and Vonage and ClickZ, and everyone in this room."

Isenberg said he believes that net neutrality may be the single most important issue facing anyone who uses the web, for anything and in any capacity. This includes businesses, consumers, and not in the least, marketers.

So what are the options on the table to ensure an equitable web?

Well, there's government intervention. Congressman Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, is leading the charge for legislation and pushing for hearings in both chambers.

Experts don't believe such legislation will get passed but say that Markey has been successful in making this an election year issue. Indeed, several presidential candidates have embraced the topic as part of their campaigns, including Democratic front runners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and -- according to some reports -- Republican candidate Mike Huckabee.

Back in October, while on the campaign trail, Obama publicly backed the "First Amendment of the internet."

"I am a strong supporter of net neutrality," he said in response to a question posed by New Jersey businessman and MoveOn.org member Joe Niederberger at a MySpace-MTV town hall.

Without policies prohibiting internet service providers from discriminating against certain sites, he said, it's possible that "you could download and get much better quality from the Fox news site, and you'd be getting rotten service from the mom-and-pop site.

"That, I think, destroys one of the best things about the internet, which is that there's this incredible equality there," he continued.

If legislation doesn't pass, what then?

Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa law professor, said the best solution may boil down to the unpopular prospect of asking consumers to simply shell out more for better access and higher speeds.

"At the end of the day, consumers are going to have to pay," he said. "It's just a matter of how they pay."

The bottom line for marketers
Privacy guru Alan Chapell says net neutrality is "potentially a huge issue. Any scenario that threatens to stifle competition by arbitrarily or unreasonably favoring one website, application and/or service over another is bad for the online advertising ecosystem."

Others echo this fear.

In SYS-CON's annual round-up of technology predictions, Joshua Allen, a Microsoft senior evangelist, issued this warning: "Disparity between bandwidth haves and have-nots will grow. Net neutrality will take an even worse beating in 2008 than 2007."

And Lauren Weinstein, a Los Angeles-based technology consultant and founder of People for Internet Responsibility, has called 2008 an important year in the fight to maintain network neutrality.

And maintaining net neutrality is something that marketers believe needs to happen.

"Our industry has been successful because consumers see great value from internet content -- and a strong advertising model has resulted. Putting in constraint, surcharges, or tolls for some sites or media assets will NOT be in the greater good," says Douglas Knopper, co-founder and co-CEO of FreeWheel.tv.  

Sarah Pate, president and CEO of AdMission Corporation, agrees that net neutrality is best for advertising and advertisers so ads can be freely distributed online without surcharges or tolls.

She's optimistic that potential net neutrality killers won't happen. "Telcos and cable companies flirt with non-neutrality but competitive pressures will ultimately determine whether the ISPs are able to charge premiums. I don't think they will be able to," she says. "And I don't think legislation will be implemented. There may be scenarios where consumers pay more for higher speeds, which exists today, but not tied to their bandwidth consumption." 

Still, the issue continues to be a hot button as politicians and others keep it in the limelight. Only time will tell the outcome.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comment section below.

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Dawn Anfuso is senior editor, iMedia Connection. Read full bio.