Tubes!

Something called 'Net Neutrality' has been in the news lately, though most people probably didn't notice what with the unveiling of Baby Suri, the surprising death of the Crocodile Hunter and Katie Couric's first nightly news broadcast.

Net neutrality is a 'relatively complex' issue, so most news outlets figure the people don't care or won't be able to make heads or tails of it (see Ted Stevens video clip, linked further down). But it boils down to this: Are we willing to sacrifice the level playing field of the Internet so that large content providers can serve up streaming video or MP3s or whatever a bit faster for us?

Telcos want to provide preferential treatment for broadband content providers (in relation to smaller, less deep-pocketed companies and individuals) so that they can command and pay for more bandwidth to serve up, say, commercials, video clips of their TV shows, or footage of Paris Hilton getting wild at some Vegas club.

Democrats have put forth a bill, called the Net Neutrality Act, to put in place guarantees that the telcos can't do this.

Not surprisingly, Republicans fall on the other side of the issue, either because they depend on contributions from the large corporations that would benefit, or because many of them, apparently including Alaskan senator Ted Stevens, have no freakin' clue how the Internet works (Tubes!).