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Strident Politics and Grey Economics
The politics over the neutrality principle revolves around issues of freedom of expression, right to equal access, innovation, and monopoly power exercised by some players in the internet market. Supporting net neutrality has become a matter of political correctness. Even actors who have been found trying to violate neutrality have vowed to protect the principle. Here, three areas in economics of the internet are explored: market structure sustainability of good networks, impact of neutrality on consumer, and investment in network infrastructure. A number of grey areas in economics are found, which show that the neutrality principle may not always be good, or effective, or may even be redundant.
The article has been revised based on very useful inputs from the reviewer, particularly on areas of economics of neutrality. The points about the end-to-end principle and the two-sided market concept have been especially helpful in laying out the arguments in a logical manner.
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