I think that the points you make are not trivial or inconsequential. I'd be very interested to read more about the challenges that face communications companies that facilitate networks, if you'd be willing to provide references to a few items, such as:
'a general understanding that peering is free ...' - (might this be spelled out in the business service contracts between Comcast and a provider such as Netflix?)
a metric for how to determine and verify by both parties how much data is predominantly flowing and in which direction
And if these details to an agreement had been discussed and agreed upon by some parties that later entered a public debate about them, I might also wonder:
if a metric is determined for how an ISP will route traffic, how will it identify and share how much traffic it can handle,
and how much it has received?
What peer relationships is Comcast, or any other ISP, also bound by of similar terms that might connect a candidate business to remote customers that the ISP does not directly service, further along on the internet? How will this also impact the ability of an individual customer or business to make decisions on the terms described above?
'a general understanding that peering is free ...' - (might this be spelled out in the business service contracts between Comcast and a provider such as Netflix?)
a metric for how to determine and verify by both parties how much data is predominantly flowing and in which direction
And if these details to an agreement had been discussed and agreed upon by some parties that later entered a public debate about them, I might also wonder:
if a metric is determined for how an ISP will route traffic, how will it identify and share how much traffic it can handle, and how much it has received?
What peer relationships is Comcast, or any other ISP, also bound by of similar terms that might connect a candidate business to remote customers that the ISP does not directly service, further along on the internet? How will this also impact the ability of an individual customer or business to make decisions on the terms described above?