Yes. I don't buy "information wants to be free" but I do believe "the internet worked better than the others because it was open spec and free" (in no sense without cost)
Or you implement IETF RfCs. There's an FTP server with all standards documents. If you have just email but no Internet yet (think uucp mail or bbs), there's a service where you can request documents to be sent to you.
"On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other."
Brand wasn't a naive utopian; he acutely understood the conflicts that the internet would bring about.