UC Irvine

Traffic management practices of ISPs are an issue of public concern. We propose a framework for classification of traffic management practices as reasonable or unreasonable. We present a survey of traffic management techniques and examples of how these techniques are used by ISPs. We suggest that whether a traffic management practice is reasonable rests on the answers to four questions regarding the techniques and practices used. We propose a framework that classifies techniques as unreasonable if they are unreasonably anticompetitive, cause undue harm to consumers, or unreasonably impair free speech. We propose alternatives to unreasonable or borderline congestion management practices.