> I really think this is a bad idea. If you're a business and depend on a certain type of traffic (say Skype, or maybe email) why wouldn't you consider the opti

> I really think this is a bad idea. If you're a business and depend on a certain type of traffic (say Skype, or maybe email) why wouldn't you consider the option of trying to ensure faster and more reliable delivery of some type of data that is absolutely critical? Because these 'fast lanes' won't be faster lanes; they'll be the performance we have normally, and other traffic will be degraded. The solution to the issue that you propose already exists, and it's called Quality of Service; by having your router aware of your upstream/downstream bandwidth and setting simple rules you can prioritize traffic already. You don't need your ISP to charge you extra to do this. ISPs providing 'fast lanes' would be fine if American broadband issues weren't because of companies with multi-billion-dollar profits not bothering to upgrade their infrastructure to support their customers, or if they hadn't been paid billions by the government to provide universal broadband and then simply not bothered to do so. History has shown that American ISPs operate as monopolies[1], crush any attempt at competition[2], promise improvements and never deliver[3], and generally take advantage of their customers whenever possible, all the while complaining that the problem keeping them from providing good service is the few regulations under which they operate. Now they're claiming that their networks can't handle a large proportion of their users using their connections at once, and it's all Netflix's fault (and not theirs for oversubscribing). So yeah, I think this is a good idea. Force ISPs to deliver the service that people are supposedly paying for, and not pay extra for it. [1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/10/01/these-charts-show-comcast-acting-more-and-more-like-a-monopolist/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/10/01... [2] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/01/who-wants-competition-big-cable-tries-outlawing-municipal-broadband-in-kansas/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/01/who-wants-competi... [3] http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/06/att-makes-the-same-promises-every-time-it-buys-a-new-company/ http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/06/att-makes-the-same-p...