It's a series of tubes...

With the long holiday weekend, you, like me, might have missed some of the debate on the net neutrality bill.

I've previously gone on record suggesting that legislators who can't navigate a website shouldn't be able to vote on critical issues like net neutrality. 

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens did a wonderful job of supporting that argument earlier this week.
When asked to explain why he voted against an amendment to insert some net neutrality provisions into a telecommunications bill, Senator Stevens gave a convoluted explanation that seemed to talk about how downloadable video would clog the tubes and keep him from getting emails from his staff.  At least, that's what I think he said.

Here are a few quotes:
"I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?
Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially."

..."And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a truck.

It's a series of tubes.

And if you don't understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material."

Here's the full transcript, courtesy of Wired Blogs' 27B Stroke 6  , or listen to the audio, via Public Knowledge.

I know that Stevens is 82, and I don't expect him to really get the Internet.  But, it's scary to think that he and his peers are making decisions that will have a huge impact on the ability of technology startups to compete.  Stevens' party claims that it's the party of business, and in particular, small business, but they're simply giving the lobbyists of the large telecoms what they want.

In the meantime, make sure you tell your Senators and Representative that you support net neutrality.

Comments

[MnZ]

Let's see if I understand.

1) Senators are too stupid to understand the Internet.

2) Senators should regulate the Internet.

Why do those points seem contradictory?

[T. Willie]

Yes, folks, here you have clear cut proof that, while lobbying dollars have been the hottest killer app in Washington forever, the Surgeon General needs to just up and declare them hazardous to the internet's health.

Steven's might not use his own personal internet for much, but I sure use the heck out of mine. I use it to keep in touch with family; find out what's going on in the big wide world; I use it to make and receive calls with my voip internet phone; I gather research and make my living via the interwebs; I use it for just about everything.

Can't we institute some kind of basic computer literacy entrance exam they have to pass before being appointed to these kinds of committees? Argh!