Certain rules are required to make the road system safe and functional. So, while your car is capable of going 120 mph, you only get to drive it 35 mph through town. Similarly, though it would be faster to drive through the red lights, you are required to stop. If you break the rules, you are fined. The fact that you pay taxes to maintain the roads is not a license to make your own rules or break the existing ones.
Networks are no different.
There are rules required to make them safe and functional and everyone needs to abide by them. For more information on these issues, see the revised Code of Conduct .