Slouching Towards Mediocrity: Unintended Consequences of Net Neutrality Regulation
Source: Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies (via SSRN)
“This paper examines one particular aspect of the ‘net neutrality’ proposals: ‘non-discrimination’ requirements relating to the provision of network quality of service (QoS) to content providers. The paper concludes that such requirements, however innocuous they may seem, actually would be detrimental to the objectives that all Americans seemingly should want—namely, the accelerated construction of next-generation networks, and benefits of lower prices, broader consumer choices, and innovations these networks would bring. The paper also concludes that under the best of circumstances, even if networks are significantly upgraded in the presence of net neutrality rules (a doubtful circumstance), the proposed non-discrimination provisions would provide incentives for those who would build and operate networks to offer ‘blended’ QoS levels that are ‘too high’ for some applications and ‘too low’ for others. Mediocrity in broadband service is hardly an objective that policymakers in the United States—which presumably has aspirations to remain a technology leader for the rest of the world—should be trying to achieve.” Several options available for retrieval of full text (PDF; 176 KB).
See also: A Consumer-Welfare Approach to Network Neutrality Regulation of the Internet

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