This has been chasing back and forth across the Internets. Alaska senator Ted Stevens is an outspoken opponent of Net neutrality, supporting a problematic idea wherein Internet pipeline providers (such as Comcast and AT&T) can charge big internet companies who use a lot of bandwidth for that privilege, a policy which makes as much sense as plumbers who lay pipe charging homeowners for the right to use that pipe. Recently, he explains why he voted against an amendment containing provisions to protect net neutrality.
Blah, blah, blah. What’s so great about this is the way he articluates his understanding of the web, which is uninformed at best.
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.
…
They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. 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.
Now we have a separate Department of Defense internet now, did you know that?
Do you know why?
Because they have to have theirs delivered immediately. They can’t afford getting delayed by other people.
Now I think these people are arguing whether they should be able to dump all that stuff on the internet ought to consider if they should develop a system themselves.
via BoingBoing
One Comment
i can’t even comment…I can’t even find the words to describe…
his ignorance on the topic he is…voting on…
and…making a public statement…defending his vote…
oh my…
that’s what i think when I look at some of the people who run this country…oh my