Building a better net?

[Commentary] As economists who study network neutrality, we have watched the debate over the future of the Internet closely. The new policy proposal from Google and Verizon opens the possibility that some Websites will be treated better than others. This might not be such good news for Internet users.

In the past, broadband Internet Service Providers have operated according to net neutrality principles, meaning companies providing Internet service treat all content sources equally. Under this rule, the Internet has produced billions of dollars of free value for the US public -- which could be swallowed by Internet Service Providers like Verizon, if net neutrality were lost.

It might also possibly mean a change in the rapid improvements in Internet content, which users have come to expect. The process that led us from Pets.com to YouTube in such a short time may be slowed. In fact, YouTube itself might not have emerged if, 10 years ago, AOL had decided to deliver content preferentially only from, for example, Real Networks. Is that what we really want to see? If ISPs upend that balance by blocking any FCC move to codify the current structure, we can expect changes in the way we use the Internet. And not all change is good.