E*Trade made the headline by announcing it will rebate half of the 12b-1 fees to fund investors. 12b-1 fee was invented in 1980 to help small funds to compete with large funds by allowing a mutual fund to pay distribution and marketing expenses with fund's assets.
This is certainly good news for some fund investors. But the better move is to dodge funds with 12b-1 fees completely. This About.com article explained why "12b-1 Fees Are Not Your friend!"