Net Neutrality

What I thought was a simple idea, that one pays for the bandwidth that one uses has gotten quite involved with political games. Wiki says:

The [Net Neutrality] principle states that if a given user pays for a certain level of Internet access, and another user pays for the same level of access, then the two users should be able to connect to each other at the subscribed level of access.

Then the claim  that Comcast is a jackass (they are):

The principle of equal treatment of traffic, called "Net Neutrality" by proponents, is not enshrined in law but supported by some regulations. Most of the debate around the issue has centered on tentative plans, now postponed, by large Internet carriers to offer preferential treatment of traffic from certain content providers for a fee.

But wait, though Comcast is a jackass company, doesn't the idea that two users buy a level of access correspond to users paying a fee for access level?  Isn't buying bandwidth in the market a form of net neutrality?  How does Comcast control your bit rate?

Each PC gets a message invisible to the user that looks like it comes from the other computer, telling it to stop communicating. But neither message originated from the other computer — it comes from Comcast. If it were a telephone conversation, it would be like the operator breaking into the conversation, telling each talker in the voice of the other: "Sorry, I have to hang up. Good bye."

These messages are part of the end to end protocol to prevent data from backing up, but Comcast is inserting these messages in the middle of the physical net. Well folks, if one is to enforce the idea that we get the bandwidth we pay for, this is how it is going to be done.

There are some simpletons involved in the debate, there has to be. Look, in about five minutes my bandwidth, which I purchased is going to be given to Netflix, for free. That is, the Netflix CEO is getting a check from me, courtesy of some numbskull in Congress.

I know these folks that start Internet companies, and what we think is net neutrality is really a form of collusion among the Netflix and Utube executives who want subsidies from one set of users to their set of users.

I have a better idea. Anyone who has slowdowns because of Netflix should join a class action suit against their ISP for breach.