I don’t think CERN was trying to monetize anything. To the extent that web technologies today are driven by companies like Google, then maybe that’s a fair criticism too.
> Do you actually think it would be better to have software patents and royalties on every Web standard?
I don’t think it would necessarily be worse than having web technologies all developed to further the agenda of advertising companies.
> It is always possible to find hidden costs in free products, so what?
The “so what” is that hidden costs are, all else being equal, worse than transparent costs.
> The idea that a Blu-Ray player won't spy on you because the manufacturer paid some royalties is... flawed.
Paying someone up front doesn’t guarantee they won’t try to monetize you indirectly, but not paying someone up front virtually assures that they will. Compare Symbian to Android.