McCloud's New-Age Middle Men

I liked the comic’s rendition of the system of micro-payments as it relates to the artist’s world. He accurately depicts the old supply chain involving comics (or musicians, artists, etc.) and how it has been revolutionized by the internet. Besides the “middle men,” a more direct market openly linking the producers and consumers profits everyone. Should we be worried about the traditional middle men? It sounds like a familiar argument against Napster…

McCloud also makes a great point when he points out that advertisers have become the new middle men online. I’ve never thought of advertisers as the new-age censors of content. I guess it’s always true that the people signing the check have the final say.

What implications does this have for politically biased websites?