1) Did you ever see "The Producers"?

2) Your analogy misses the mark in that the folks waiting on the sidewalk haven't already paid the nightclub the price of admission.

3) ISPs add capacity to serve customers only when declining service levels result in customer loss. If the infrastructure is screaming fast, they have more capacity than they need. This translates into a sub-optimal margin.

4) Regardless of the network management strategy, the penalty (oops, I mean totally voluntary gesture of goodwill and corporate citizenship, since there is obviously "no evidence to the contrary") was the result of a simple, low-tech concept; they sold customers one thing, and gave them something less.