Paid Prioritization: Why We Should Stop Worrying and Enjoy the “Fast Lane”

Data traffic prioritization is one of the most unfairly maligned technologies. Caricaturing commonplace network management techniques as “fast lanes,” net neutrality activists warn that introducing the option of paying for specific performance levels of Internet traffic will destroy the characteristic “openness” of the web. This is false. Prioritization and other mechanisms that differentiate data traffic are the only economical ways to radically improve the performance of broadband given the wide diversity of different applications that broadband networks must support, and would encourage further innovation throughout the Internet. When it comes to discussions of potential net neutrality legislation, there is fairly widespread agreement on what the substance of rules should look like. There is rough consensus around blocking and throttling—namely, that baseline rules should flatly ban Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from blocking legal Internet traffic or slowing or throttling data to extract payment. But the rough consensus around substantive rules admittedly breaks down at paid prioritization.