While I agree with the overall premise that mega-corporations are controlling the public's use of the internet, I disagree with the underlying statement:<p>>>He was able to do this because the internet, which had been publicly available since January 1983, enabled it.<p>I was using the internet in 1983. To suggest it was "publicly available" is glossing over the reality. It was available if I wanted to pay ~$60 an hour to Compuserve (so expensive we used automation software (NASCIS?) to log on, grab forum messages, and log off to be processed offline).<p>The reality is the internet wasn't generally available to the general public. Berners-Lee had access through ARAPNET, a US military organization that created "wide area networks" with Colleges/Universities in the 1960s. In 1983 the public did not have direct access to ARAPNET. The only access was through a corporate gatekeeper which held the keys to the kingdom and controlled the terms of access.<p>IMO, any attempt at reform of the internet, still faces that underlying problem: access to an internet onramp. I don't see how access avoids government or corporate gatekeepers. And so long as that remains true, they will control the terms of any "rewilding".<p>edited: 1060s to 1960s