A neutral broadband network is one that is free of restrictions on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, on the modes of communication allowed, which does not restrict content, sites or platforms, and where communication is not unreasonably degraded by other communication streams.

There is a growing fear among the tech-savvy that telecommunications companies like Comcast and Time Warner are grabbing up all the gateways to the Web. By controlling access, many fear, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will one day move to control, stratify and charge for content.

I can’t give you any hard evidence that this will happen, but it would certainly be in the best interest of telecom ISPs to regulate Internet access in the same way many of them regulate television: the basic commercial crap is cheap and the premium stuff costs more.

The AP reported this month on Time Warner Cable’s test run of metered Internet access in Texas - a sort of pay-as-you-browse system. The new plans they offer range in speed and maximum data transfer sizes. It looks like the high-end plan gives you 40gb per month. The company claims 5 percent of Internet users use a majority of the bandwidth and this is a way of regulating it.

Watch out bittorrent users, your days may be numbered.

By the same token, Comcast this month will start testing a system in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and Warrenton, Virginia that will throttle “disproportionate” users of bandwidth during peak usage times.

The telecoms are on the move to put the kebash on unlimited bandwidth. It all seems to be running opposite the direction of most industries. When I was 16 my first cell phone cost $20 for 20 minutes each month. Long distance was extra and the network was tiny. That phone didn’t last long.

But now I pay a bit more than that, but I have more service than I need and fewer restrictions. The direction of the telecomms are headed would - if uncheked - take the vibrant free community of the Web and break it down into another commercial entertainment medium, taxed to the max. And I doubt they could do much to improve the quality of content. Truly it would be heartbreaking.

Now I’m fairly certain your average congressman knows about as much about capping bandwidth as they do capping a jar of mustard. But don’t let that sway you, their aides are very smart.

Find the closest rep to you on the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet and let them know how you feel. Businesses need to please shareholders. And if no law is in place stopping them, they’ll take whatever they can get.

It’s like Google founder Eric Schmidt said, “Creativity, innovation and a free and open marketplace are all at stake in this fight.”