1. A method for prioritizing a block of data to provide content-based quality of service in a network, the method including: receiving a block of data; using at least one processing device to perform the steps of: selecting a selected rule from a set of available rules, wherein the selected rule includes an operation to be performed on the block of data and a key used in performing the operation on the block of data; processing the block of data according to the selected rule based at least in part on the operation to determine a decision value based at least in part on the key; prioritizing the block of data, wherein the block of data is prioritized based at least in part on the decision value.