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No, each ISP would offer a different set of fast/slow websites to the consumer, because that's how they can differentiate and segment the market. Various costs of switching/vendor lock-in will keep consumers from bouncing around, and it's in each ISP's own interest to leverage these effects to extract profits from content providers.

Similar practices already exist with satellite TV providers, who drop content providers over contract disputes [1], and with cell carriers, who provide preferential billing for in-network calls. Not that these practices are inherently bad, nor are monopolies good, but these are clear examples of the free market inducing discriminatory carriage, directly counter to your claim.

"The market" only "sorts things out" in fantasy worlds with infinite liquidity, no financial transaction friction, and no information imbalance. The world of consumer internet is none of these things. The most direct route to net neutrality is regulatory enforcement via common-carrier status.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weather_Channel#Cable_and_...




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