The
revolution,
they
say,
will not be televised. But will it be
web
cast? The tendency for ISPs to also be in the content business means that they have an interest in resisting the growth and simplicity of independent content distribution. Already ISPs are blocking ports that are needed for hobbyists to explore things like streaming video with their broadband connections. Seemingly rational arguments to support such policies are never difficult to find when security is an unquestioned shibboleth that warrants any concession "necessary." Yet there is a
pattern
at work that hedges in consumers. One must triple the monthly bill in order to own enough upstream bandwidth to maintain one or two simultaneous video streams. Meanwhile, TimeWarner owns the conduits on which their content will flow.