Network Coding and NetNeutrality

So, I really wish that I could write a super intelligent post on this topic but since I con only just barely understand what Network Coding is I can only have some very loosely joined opinions about it's implications.  Here goes.  There is a great article from the Scientific American that got me thinking about this. 

clipped from www.sciam.com Breaking Network Logjams An approach called network coding could dramatically enhance the efficiency and reliability of communications networks. At its core is the strange notion that transmitting evidence about messages can be more useful than conveying the messages themselves By MICHELLE EFFROS, RALF KOETTER and MURIEL MÉDARD

The essence of Network Coding is that it doesn't send all of a message down the same path. 

In this approach, called network coding, routers are replaced by coders, which transmit evidence about messages instead of sending the messages themselves. When receivers collect the evidence, they deduce the original information from the assembled clues.

Computer networks--and the Internet in particular--are essentially a maze of merging, branching and intersecting roads. Information traveling from one computer to another typically traverses several roads en route to its destination. Bits from a single message are grouped into packets (the carpools or buses of the information superhighway), each of which is labeled with its intended destination. Routers sit at the intersections of the roads, examine each packet's header and forward that packet toward its destination.

Ironically, the very transportation model that fueled today's sophisticated communications systems now stands in the way of progress. After all, bits are not cars. When two vehicles converge on the same narrow bridge, they must take turns traversing the bottleneck. When two bits arrive at a bottleneck, however, more options are possible--which is where network coding comes in.

Instead, It sends hints about the message, everywhere.  There are lots of resources on the web, including the excellent Scientific American article I have quoted from, that can help you understand the specifics better than I do, but the salient point for me is this.  The reason why we need the Telco's to agree to Network Neutrality principles is because they own the "super highway" which is the internet backbone.  All data that travels on that backbone then becomes the property of the Information Service Provider that owns that backbone and they can then filter that data as they see fit.

What if Network Coding gave us a way to 1) increase network performance, 2) eliminate (attenuate) the the leverage (stranglehold)  that the Telco's have.