The internet is in decline – it needs rewilding

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:

>>He was able to do this because the internet, which had been publicly available since January 1983, enabled it.

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).

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.

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".

edited: 1060s to 1960s