No more Sen. Stevens and his "Tubes"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DClkE64nFDY

Come on, it's not a "Big Truck" guys!!!

This one is pretty hilarious as well. Kudos to Jon Stewart (and whoever found this in the office) for making Net Neutrality both mainstream AND funny.

Seriously though, it doesn't take a degree in Computer Science (OK, I have one) to understand that if a company can simply buy all the bandwidth they want, they can use an effective monopolistic tactic to limit market entry to smaller firms who can't afford to pay enough money to ISPs to keep their site visible to consumers.

This of course has dire consequences not only for those who would challenge companies, but theoretically for those who would challenge the status-quo in government. Imagine 3rd party and dark-horse candidates, so recently emboldened by the Internet, suddenly hamstrung by their inability to afford enough bandwidth to get their message out to voters?

This has clear implications not only for commerce and consumer rights, but for clean elections and voter choice as well.