Two basic subjects in one post? You�d better believe it.

Slashdot links to this article which cites a study warning of �internet brown-outs� by 2010:

A flood of new video and other Web content could overwhelm the Internet by 2010 unless backbone providers invest up to US$137 billion in new capacity, more than double what service providers plan to invest, according to the study, by Nemertes Research Group, an independent analysis firm. In North America alone, backbone investments of $42 billion to $55 billion will be needed in the next three to five years to keep up with demand, Nemertes said.

$137 billion. That�s like a year and a half or so in Iraq, going by the straight-from-my-brain estimate of $500 or so billion we�ve spent in the time since Cobra II (the operation the book is named after, kids) finished up in May of 2003. That�s a decent-sized building worth of money. I wonder if that means that we could rebuild the internet for the financial cost of the war in Iraq. Probably. Probably that and then some.

So $137 billion could buy us a massive upgrade to the North American backbone. We should spend it. As soon as possible. If only to keep stupid videos to keep coming at us as fast as the series of tubes can allow. I�m joking but not kidding.

Then again, sometimes you have to wonder about net neutrality. I mean, we need to expand the internet as fast as possible, but with that effort comes the fact that as the internet gets bigger, people will inevitably foist ton after ton of inane drivel upon it, like this blog. Only this blog doesn�t take up that much bandwidth, and I pay for the hosting myself, so it�s not completely analogous to posting self-indulgent crap on YouTube or Veoh and expecting all internet users everywhere to make sure it gets sucked down by any troglodyte who wants it. After all, the internet essentially works by having decent people shoulder the burden of ferreting your offal from node to node along with more enlightening and business-minded communication.

Iâ��m not a fascist — I just think itâ��s fun to realize for a few moments that if you mix cultural cynicism with not-on-my-dime-ism, you get a pretty good argument against net neutrality. OK — maybe not good. Maybe just humorous. Hopefully.

Of course I believe in net neutrality, but that belief was (I have to be honest) seriously shaken when I watched the Leave Britney Alone kid and was scarred deep in the dank, leathery crotch of my psyche. I know I linked to that thing before, but it�s simply so scary to me that it�s shaken much of my faith in humanity, the internet, cameras, mascara, and English speech. And almost 13 million people have watched it. I am so scared for mankind.