In comments to the US Federal Communications Commission, which is investigating net access, the Justice Department said that internet service providers should be allowed to charge for priority traffic saying it is opposed to “network neutrality” – the idea that all data on the net is treated equally. This is extraordinary; it is contrary to egalitarian principles. It is one thing to charge for different levels of service, but to control the actual content is anti-competitive and protectionist. Even companies such as Microsoft and Google have called for legislation to guarantee equal access to the net.
The attempt to tier content levels has been pushed by several US ISPs, including AT&T and Verizon, who want to charge some users more money for certain content such as TV and film download services. A similar debate is ongoing in the UK.
The immediate solution is simply to ration bandwidth according to demand, which is easy to do and treats all users equally. If a user wants more bandwidth it can raise its service level without restricting content to others.
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