"OK so you don't understand how the internet works...."
I've been around a while so I'm pretty sure I have a good enough understanding of how the Internet and companies like AT&T work. This whole thing is a money grab by AT&T (and others). Once they set a precedent there is little to stop them from shaking down others like Netflix and anyone that offers a service that competes with them.
"Hey uhhh, how ya doin? That's a really really nice Internet biznesss you got going there. I would really hate for something to happen to your traffic. I tell ya wut. Today is your lucky day. We just happen to offer insurance for people like you to make sure nuttin happens to those pretty little packets of yours."
Now multiply that times every decent sized ISP and peering provider.