<P> `` A series of tubes '' is a phrase coined originally as an analogy by then - United States Senator Ted Stevens ( R - Alaska ) to describe the Internet in the context of opposing network neutrality . On June 28 , 2006 , he used this metaphor to criticize a proposed amendment to a committee bill . The amendment would have prohibited Internet Access providers such as AT&T , Comcast , Time Warner Cable , and Verizon Communications from charging fees to give some companies ' data a higher priority in relation to other traffic . The metaphor has been widely ridiculed , particularly because Stevens displayed an extremely limited understanding of the Internet , even though he was in charge of regulating it . Edward Felten , Princeton University professor of computer science , pointed out the unfairness of some criticisms of Stevens ' wording , while maintaining that the underlying arguments were rather weak . </P>
<P> `` A series of tubes '' is a phrase coined originally as an analogy by then - United States Senator Ted Stevens ( R - Alaska ) to describe the Internet in the context of opposing network neutrality . On June 28 , 2006 , he used this metaphor to criticize a proposed amendment to a committee bill . The amendment would have prohibited Internet Access providers such as AT&T , Comcast , Time Warner Cable , and Verizon Communications from charging fees to give some companies ' data a higher priority in relation to other traffic . The metaphor has been widely ridiculed , particularly because Stevens displayed an extremely limited understanding of the Internet , even though he was in charge of regulating it . Edward Felten , Princeton University professor of computer science , pointed out the unfairness of some criticisms of Stevens ' wording , while maintaining that the underlying arguments were rather weak . </P>
who said the internet is a series of tubes
who said the internet is a series of tubes
Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens