Folks, it seems to me the next "evil publisher" you'll be hearing a lot about is Valve themselves. Well, evil remains to be seen, but at a minimum I see them trying to leverage Steam as a legitimate product distribution channel as opposed to simply a piece of technology.
It's obvious they hate the old style model and if anything can shake up the antiquated retail model, Steam is it. Lots of developers are sick of the Vivendis and EAs of the world, and would far rather their publisher be a *developer* who "gets it." Not to mention, if you take pressing CDs, packaging, inventory, and the salaries of all those suits at head office out of the picture, it's a hell of a lot cheaper to create games that are distributed electronically. (The next obvious question is: Will electronic distribution result in a glut of low-quality games, when you no longer need to create a blockbuster to break even?)
Now the big question is whether Valve will only offer to be the distribution system, or whether they will bankroll projects as well. Heaven knows HL2 will be a money factory, it's not out of the question they will start doing some of the traditional things publishers do.
I'm no Valve flunkie, but I like anything that shakes up old-media oligarchies and forces them to listen to their customers for a change. I'm behind Valve 100% on this one...