Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

The application of antitrust policy, through which the government seeks to shape the general rules of competition, has always been contentious. But for roughly 40 years there has been a consensus that its ultimate goal should be the welfare of consumers, broadly defined to mean maximizing overall economic growth.

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.

A key reason for the contentious fight over net neutrality regulation, and the source of its partisan strife, is that the way we classify broadband Internet access for legal purposes could have weighty long-term implications: Do we want a broadband system more like a public utility under Title II of the Communications Act, or do we want to rely on private companies to drive the evolution of broadband, with relatively light oversight from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)?