Michael Rogers, columnist for MSNBC, filed an article yesterday suggesting that the destiny of the internet may well be decided by K Street. K Street, a major thoroughfare in Washington DC, is the preferred address of America’s elite lobbyists and law firms. The address achieved further fame in 2003, when George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh created a television series named and inspired by the address.

Michael details how key issues such as neutrality and flags are now being fought over by some of America’s most powerful lobbyists. He explains that neutrality is essentially a dispute between network owners and the companies like Google and Yahoo! who pay large amounts of money for bandwidth.

Of course the issue is not that simple; both sides of this debate employ the “Gucci shoed lobbyists” referred to by Michael. Earlier this year, The New York Times reported on Google’s decision to hire Podesta Mattoon, a powerful Washington lobby firm. Google also retain the services of DCI, a lobby firm with links to Karl Rove.

A quick glance at Political Money Line, a site focused toward campaign finance transparency, reminds us that firms like Microsoft pay large amounts of money to election candidates. As we have previously reported, the policy of firms such as Yahoo! and Google toward China has attracted censure, and reminds us why they need friends in Washington.

However, Jack Abramoff is a cautionary reminder for all concerned.