In essence, Amazon is now an ISP -- taking its place in my household alongside the wireless and cable providers that also deliver Internet connectivity. Yet Amazon's "Internet service" makes it extraordinarily easy to connect to Amazon.com -- and extraordinarily cumbersome to get to, say, BarnesandNoble.com.

That is, Amazon's an ISP that unabashedly favors one content source (Amazon) over another (Barnes and Noble). And by doing so it violates the fundamental premise of net neutrality -- which is not to prioritize content from source A over content from source B.

You may figure that it's no big deal, because nobody in their right mind would elect to subscribe to the Internet through Amazon. Maybe. But there's a rather compelling logic to "free" -- and whether intentionally or not, Amazon has now created the first free coast-to-coast consumer ISP.

So if you support net neutrality, you'll need to tell Amazon to close up shop, at least for the Kindle. (And I'll probably have to come whack you with my now-useless book reader.)

More broadly, if I look at the four links (counting Amazon) that comprise my Internet connectivity, three are wireless. In fact, wireless is becoming an increasingly important component in broadband Internet -- which proponents of "universal broadband" will have to consider. Yet most universal broadband providers are still thinking in terms of high-speed wireline links.