One gets the feeling that if Dallas Mavericks owner and HDNet CEO Mark Cuban wasn't absolutely terrified of broadband video, he wouldn't be constantly ranting about how broadband video is going to fail. Cuban's spent the last five years urging ISPs to block P2P, supporting the cable industry's vision of net neutrality (as in: none), insisting the Internet is dead, lamenting broadband video's shortcomings and generally pouting a lot. Cuban takes specific aim at Google -- who, just like the cable and telcos, is seen as a huge threat.

Google's seen as a threat not only because they're gobbling up advertising revenue incumbent ISPs and Cuban feel they're entitled to, but because Google supports things like open competition and White Space devices -- concepts that could eventually create a video free for all. Google of course also owns YouTube, and while the outfit is struggling to be profitable now -- Cuban knows Google could play a central role as a video competitor of tomorrow.

The phone and cable companies know this too, which is why they spend millions paying lobbyists and PR mercenaries to smear Google at every turn. One gets the feeling that Cuban spends a lot of time chatting up his executive pals at major cable carriers, given the level of anti-Google rhetoric he's been employing for years. His latest tirade was this week at the D: All Things Digital conference, where Cuban again feigns "disappointment" in the broadband video industry.

In fairness, Cuban's a little more reserved than in years past in his latest interview. But several times in his interview with Walt Mossberg, Cuban mirrors another cable industry talking point and suggests that Google is "subsidizing the bandwidth for the world," which could lead to disaster, insists Cuban:Because, of course, the entire Internet video scene hinges on Google, two cans, and a long piece of twine. Cuban can sometimes be right about the limitations of broadband video (particularly for live events), but his experience with online video ended with his sale of Broadcast.com to Yahoo for $5 billion in 1999. Cuban's now heavily invested in traditional delivery, owning a chain of traditional movie theaters and is a significant player in cable HD delivery with HDNet. Of course he wants Internet video to fail.

We're guessing that Hulu, Google, or even BitTorrent users who download TV shows from The Pirate Bay -- then stream them in high definition via an Xbox 360 -- don't much care what Cuban thinks. While online video is only nibbling at the profit margins of cable TV operators now, we're only just beginning to see next-generation broadband service (like Comcast's 50Mbps Wideband and Verizon FiOS) make their way into the field.

Once next-generation speeds see broader deployment at lower prices (Comcast is promising full DOCSIS 3.0 deployment by the end of 2010), and vendors begin producing simpler solutions to help Luddites pull Internet video from the web (or PC) to the living room -- Cable operators will have a fight on their hands. Cable executives know it -- which is why they're working hard to hoist the metered billing model upon unwilling consumers.

Cuban knows it too, which is why is rhetoric is so pointed, relentless, and frequently obnoxious. It may take time, but the day's coming during the next decade when Cuban's going to need to cook up a new shtick.