A battle is brewing over the future of the Internet.

On one side are the giant phone and cable companies, such as AT&T. On the other are the giant online companies such as eBay and Google.

Our advice: side with eBay and Google.

That’s because we like the Internet as it is, a democratic, decentralized network where anyone can hook up to the Internet and become a Big Guy.

The phone and cable companies want to change the current system. The CEO of AT&T objects to Internet companies that “use his pipes for free.”

Ten years ago, few companies were making much money off the Internet. Now it has become lucrative. The phone and cable companies want more money.

To protect against this, companies such as eBay want Congress to pass legislation that protects what they call “network neutrality.”

In a clever use of language, phone and cable companies portray this as a power grab in a campaign — Hands off the Internet! — that implies that network neutrality is a power grab that would upset the status quo on the Internet.

Actually a guarantee of network neutrality would preserve the Internet as a way for anyone with a computer to reach out to an audience of billions — with the same access as any company with deep pockets.

The argument put forward by the phone and cable companies is not completely without merit. They are, after all, the people investing in the network infrastructure.

But if the phone and cable companies are allowed to do what they want, they will set up tiered pricing for companies with Web sites. High-priced “pipes” would be lightning fast. Cheap “pipes” would be slow. In other words, only big companies with the money to buy their way on to the fast “pipes” could offer slick productions using streaming video. Little guys without enough cash would have to put their Web sites on the slow “pipes.”

The specter of the big phone and cable companies has created some odd allies. The Christian Coalition and the liberal MoveOn.org both are concerned that abandoning the current network neutrality will put the phone and cable companies in the position of gatekeepers who can refuse sites they don’t like.

The Internet as it originally was set up encourages innovation. Its open framework unleashed creativity. People can download music, buy automobiles and make phone calls. The democratic blogosphere exists because any blogger can create a Web site.

That open framework is worth preserving. Congress should pass legislation that protects network neutrality.