It's unfortunately no longer enough to force websites to check your government-issued ID before you can access certain content, because politicians have now discovered that people are using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to protect their privacy and bypass these invasive laws. Their solution? Entirely ban the use of VPNs.
Wouldn’t even pin the early problems on the billionaires. Every corpo smelled money in the net. Every scammer and similar dirtbag. That, in combination with the average joe being able to “surf” was a bad combo. Like everything else where a clueless mass meets greed.
The net is great, i love it. don’t get me wrong. Decentralization was kinda a core of the net. Usenet, IRC…everything was great, simple, redundant and fool-proof (i mean, it’s still there and kicking). Even google was great when they emerged.
Very nuanced. Thank you for your thoughtful response!