I've grown using dial up internet in the 90's. At the time, once you "connected" you got a real IP you could share with anyone in the world. Run a service in your machine in your desk, pass your IP to a friend and that was all you needed. Of course, there were security implications and IP are a scarce resource now, but I liked the way it was then.

IPv6, AFAIR, was promised to solve the scarcity of IP's. Every grain of sand could have a world reachable IP they promised us. What we got were CGNAT, hole punching, rendez-vous servers... If you want serve something "at home" these you'll have pay extra money for a "real IP" depending on your ISP.

The current situation is bad and, considering interests of biggest companies that can I influence it these days, not improving anytime soon.

I really miss the freedom I had in the 90's when I could run IRC server on my machine and tell my friends to connect (I actually did that!), when I could code a quick game and pass to my friends to play on-line. I see people buying security cameras and on-line switches, but what they are actually using are services which can be disabled or become paid as soon as it becomes profitable for the vendor.

We need to be independent. We should be able run services on our machines and pass that to world without any special permission if we want. The possibility of running services should not be a hostage of a few billion dollar companies or deep pockets.

The best solution I know so far for this problem is the TOR network, but it needs special software on both ends and some knowledge to use. It is time for us to start thinking about having the internet on our hands again.