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If yours is a business that operates online, it’s important to understand net neutrality. It’s what keeps Internet service providers honest, ensuring they can’t treat businesses differently based on the number of dollars thrown at their account. While a lack of net neutrality law doesn’t mean that ISPs will take advantage of their relationships with certain companies – but it could help if the temptation exists.

Take spam, for instance. None of us want to see it in our inboxes or even gracing our sidebars when using an email platform. In fact, I pay for both email platforms I use and one of them regularly displays ads whether I want to see them or not. Sure, I can close the view, but any click within the interface and it pops right back up again. The ISP is double-dipping for sure, but it seems like too much trouble to switch.

While net neutrality has been a hot topic for some time, the U.S. Appeals Court just recently struck down FCC rules from 2011 that said all Internet traffic must be treated equally by ISPs. Verizon (News - Alert) had challenged the initial ruling simply because Congress never gave the FCC the right to regulate the Internet in the first place. Bills continue to be introduced and they continue to fail. The only one that passed had the net neutrality element stripped, first.

The fear driving the demand for net neutrality regulations is that a lack of guidelines will lead to tiered service. Those making the suggestion, however, fail to realize that these tiers already exist. You and I can pay for faster Internet service. Your website could be limited to certain speeds and volumes of visitors, based on the type of hosting plan you use. If you’re willing to pay for greater support, you gain access to greater capabilities.

This concept is not outside traditional capitalistic approaches to doing business. I shouldn’t expect to get the same level of support as someone who is paying twice as much, as long as I have the option to pay for that higher level. The same is true when comparing pay as you go customers to those willing to sign a contract. If I have a contract, I expect faster response than someone who does not.

The truth is, we want fairness and we want people to behave according to set standards, but we don’t want to hand over control to a governing body. For mobile VoIP providers, this could be a good thing, or it could cause significant problems. According to one post by Phil Edholm (News - Alert), the ruling could mean tumultuous futures for mobile VoIP providers if ISPs decide the information they support shouldn’t be handled with the same care as other traffic. In other words, it could mean the end of low- to no-cost mobile VoIP.

The success of mobile VoIP rests solely on the low cost and the user experience. If one or both are sacrificed because ISPs aren’t required to ensure QoE and deem it a low class of service, the branded service is damaged. The user won’t care what the ISP is doing; they will associate the experience with the provider. And, without net neutrality, we should expect a whole new pricing structure to emerge.

In all honesty, this series of events is not unlike other industries and how pricing and behaviors emerge. The question is whether or not competition in its purest form can keep pricing at acceptable levels and performance superbly.