With the launch of a streaming-only option, many Netflix subscribers (including this one) will no longer say “and now the envelope please.” It’s a red-letter day for online movie distribution without, um, the red letter. What will happen to the post-office once their largest consumer of first class postage goes completely digital? And for that matter, might the move affect broadband rates? Who cares? It took 10 years longer than expected but “convergence” is upon us that’s to deft hacking of existing systems…

from Netflix’s Move Onto the Web Stirs Rivalries

?Netflix used an open-source network, the U.S. Postal Service, to launch an alternative distribution business without asking anyone for permission,? said Tim Wu, a Columbia University law professor and author of ?The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires.? ?Now they are using another open-source network, the Internet, to transform the business. It is much easier for Netflix to change, because they don’t have to undergo a kind of religious conversion like media companies will have to.? ? New York Times

It leads what to ponder what other open-source systems one might hack to create a disruptive (read: independent) means of media distribution. Let’s get there before Netflix then create a bidding war between them and Google for our inevitable acquisition. I’ll purchase a cool, crisp pint of ale (or it’s digitally transferable equivalent) to the best idea to hit the comments.