They're originally telco's. They're not used to being dumb pipes because only a decade or so ago, they mostly weren't.
I don't get this "dumb pipe" thing. What other kind of pipe do they hope to sell ? In Europe ISPs typically sell three services when they hook you up via ADSL : Internet access, telephone (via VOIP) and TV (as streamed MPEG2 or 4). Some of them separate those offers but increasingly, you tend to just get the whole package, whether you want it all or not.
My ISP only has one offer with all 3 services on top of ADSL2+ (and a WiFi and video-recording set top box thrown in) for 30 €/month (in France). No cap or limit on anything. You also get IPv6 if you like and a user settable reverse DNS.
But behind this is really just a dumb tube. They do have streaming video servers and VOD services (which I never tried) that could be seen as a kind of update to the useless portal page each ISP feels like it needs to have. Although strictly speaking that data isn't on the Internet. Just on their network.
Are there *any* ISPs that have anything of value to add to their "Internet tube" ? I doubt it. They can offer services to piggyback on the connection but that's pretty much it I think. Mostly, what they seem to have to offer is restrictions these days...