[narrator]

The key point about net neutrality is that it prevents the telco monopoly from becoming a key gatekeeper in deciding who gets to do what and how fast on the Internet. If they become that gatekeeper, all the consumer and producer surplus in mutually beneficial transactions between websites and consumers can be siphoned off by the telcos without adding any value. Just adding more telcos to the mix spreads the siphoning around, but still sucks the profits out of the websites who would otherwise be more likely to reinvest to produce better services.