• Associated Press, Tuesday, October 24, 2006 11:46 AM

If the Democrats take over Congress in two week's time, as many believe, the change could mark a turning point in the ongoing "network neutrality" debate. Most Democrats favor putting the stop on telecommunications giants from being able to adjust the speed at which their networks deliver certain Internet content. The idea is to prevent those that control Internet traffic from widening the divide between Internet giants and Web startups and smaller publishers, which wouldn't be able to spend as much money to guarantee fast delivery of high-bandwidth content.

The telcos have said that if a net neutrality bill passes, they may have no choice but to pass on higher costs to consumers for Web access, as they spend billions to upgrade their networks. The issue pits the likes of strong lobbyists like AT&T and Comcast against grassroots campaigns and certain Web companies, like Google and eBay.

Net neutrality advocates believe the Web would lose its democratic nature without legislation banning Web traffic control. A Democratic takeover in Congress would change the chairmanship of committees overseeing the issue in Congress. Bills would likely have to be rewritten, and the results--which have thus far been in the telcos' favor--would change markedly.

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