Who should control the Internet?

Should internet remain neutral? This is becoming the latest hot-button issue.

People on both sides of the issue -- but mostly those who favor Net neutrality, or treating all Internet traffic the same -- have turned to the Web to get out their messages in a complicated debate before Congress now. More than a dozen online videos sound off on whether Congress should let cable and phone companies create a two-tiered Internet that could end up with content providers, such as Google Inc., paying to ensure speedier delivery of their services.

The debate over Net Neutrality, which involves many powerful interests, can be complicated and each side has marshaled a number of arguments to support their position. The crux of the matter, though, centers on the extent to which network operators can control the traffic that flows over their networks -- email, music downloads, video games, and so forth.

Are network operators like public roads, open equally to all, or are they like private shippers such as UPS, able to charge different rates for different levels of service?

Net-neutrality supporters, who got another crack at shaping the debate in a hearing Wednesday at the Senate Judiciary Committee, generally view the Internet as a public right of way.

A wide range of companies that do business over the Internet, including search-engine giant Google say Congress needs to pass a bill to prevent network operators from showing favoritism or exhibiting excessive control of the Internet. Consumer groups and other organizations have also rallied to the cause.

Network operators dismiss those concerns, saying a problem doesn't exist and promising not to block customers from accessing legitimate Web sites. They argue that these companies are demanding regulation based only on hypothetical scenarios.

We have to wait and see what the US federal regulators do.