[wrkng]

For folks who really want to dive into the technical arguments here, I highly recommend this paper by the new FCC CTO (and UCI CS prof) Scott Jordan: http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/168/88

This addresses ALL of the concerns raised on this thread about incentives, competition, various arguments for/against net neutrality, and it finally proposes what I consider to be a very fair solution. I just read it yesterday and am planning to write up a summary blog post, unless someone else beats me to it.

[NSAID]

That's a great paper and addresses some of the concerns I've had about net neutrality. Given the push away from traditional cable/telephony infrastructure to IP based services, it seems misguided if your ISP cannot also guarantee high quality VoIP service simply because internet and voice are coming over the same wire.

From the paper:

Table 2. Effect of policy goals upon an ISP offering VoIP.

Is it acceptable if …

… a carrier blocks a competitor’s VoIP traffic? no

… a carrier doesn't block a competitor’s VoIP traffic, but doesn't offer QoS to competitor’s VoIP subscribers while using QoS for its own VoIP subscribers? no

… a carrier gives a broadband subscriber who uses a competitor’s VoIP service the choice of (a) best-effort transport of their VoIP traffic as part of the basic broadband package, (b) enhanced performance for their VoIP traffic for an additional 1¢/min paid by the subscriber, or (c) enhanced performance for up to 500 minutes of their VoIP traffic for an additional $5/month paid by the subscriber? yes

… a carrier gives a VoIP competitor the choice of (a) best-effort transport of their VoIP traffic as part of the subscriber’s basic broadband package or (b) enhanced performance for their VoIP traffic for an additional 1¢/min paid by the VoIP provider? yes

… a carrier charges different VoIP competitors different prices for QoS? no

… a carrier charges VoIP competitors a uniform price for QoS, but a different price than charged to its own affiliates? no