[Spiff]

so all the filtering technology needs to do is limit the number of packets of a particular PORT number that it chooses to pass.

Why would you do that? If I have paid for a 1.5mbps pipe I should be able to completely utilize every bit of that pipe. Whether it is on port 80 or port 32459.

That is how you can selectively affect one service and not another.

And if an ISP gets annoying and decides to filter a specific port, then we just change the port we're using to pass our traffic. ISPs can't filter all 65535 TCP and all 65535 UDP ports or no traffic will pass at all.

[Ramius]

If I have paid for a 1.5mbps pipe I should be able to completely utilize every bit of that pipe...

It's the provider's backbone, and you agreed to certain limitations when you signed up. It's pretty much that simple.