How the Internet was Stolen

I look at the history of the internet, from ARPANET & NSFNET, through privatization, to Tim-Berners Lee, Yahoo, Netscape, Google, eBay, and Facebook, examining Microsoft's antitrust court case and their battle against Open Source and Free Software, Bill Gate's Open Letter to Hobbyists and the leaked Halloween Documents. Then we take a look at the emergence of Surveillance Capitalism, and how platforms like AirBnb & Uber coopt the idea of the community and lobby politicians. Finally, we take a look at some alternatives.
Thank you to @WereInHell @zoe_bee @Tom_Nicholas @epochphilosophy @RadicalReviewer @unlearningeconomics9021 @James_Muldoon for their help with this video.
Bibliography: lewwaller.com/how-the-interne...
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction to the History of the Internet
04:06 - Building the Net
20:37 - The Browser Wars (Microsoft vs the United States)
44:35 - The Californian Ideology (eBay, Yahoo, Google and the Libertarian Mind)
01:07:26 - The Raiding of Privacy (Surveillance Capitalism)
01:18:05 - Facebook
01:26:07 - The Theft of the Community (Airbnb & Uber)
01:40:31 - No Place (Utopian Dreams)
01:49:38 - Open Source vs Microsoft
01:59:24 - Conclusion: Politics, Policy, and Alternatives
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Credits:
Babbage Engine video - Seth Ladd, CC BY 3.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Pierre Omydar photo - Joi 15:42, 2 August 2007 (UTC), CC BY 2.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Yahoo Sign, Beraldo Leal from Natal / RN, Brazil, CC BY 2.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Page & Brinn photo, Ehud Kenan, CC BY 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Yahoo sign photograph, Sebastian Bergmann, CC BY-SA 2.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Napster Screenshot, Njahnke, CC BY-SA 4.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Sean Fanning, Joi Ito, CC BY 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Metallica photo, Kreepin Deth, CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Bill Gates portrait, By Kuhlmann /MSC - securityconference.org/en/med..., CC BY 3.0 de, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Richard Stallman Photograph, Sam Williams, CC BY-SA 3.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/b..., via Wikimedia Commons
GNU Manifesto, Raghavendra Kamath, CC BY 4.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Linus Torvalds photo, Unknown photographer who sold rights to the picture to linuxmag.com, CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/b..., via Wikimedia Commons
Wikipedia globe, Slashme, CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Wikimania, Rory O'Connor, CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/... , via Wikimedia Commons
Bill Gates photograph, Kees de Vos from The Hague, The Netherlands, CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Mark Andreessen photo, JD Lasica, CC BY 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
AOL disc, Thiago A. from Brazil, CC BY 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Ebay photo, Michael Rivera, CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons

[@groadybones]

Corporations should not be allowed to lobby governments. Why tf do we treat corporations like real people. It's fucked

[@sisyphus_strives5463]

@@ninjuhdelic People, but people without the people's interest in mind-their interest is solely in profit, for the benefit of their particular business.

[@abelabel3664]

@@justfacts1308 Trading one thing for another does not imply profit. Capitalism is way more recent. You did not even watch the video and your last sentence shows exactly that.

[@KevinJohnson-cv2no]

@@abelabel3664 Trading one thing for another literally implies profit, idiot. If profit is to be recognized as general gain, then yes; trading constitutes profit, because why would you ever trade anything if you didn't think you'd be getting something of greater value; IE. gaining?

[@KevinJohnson-cv2no]

@@sisyphus_strives5463 Literally no one has ever had the people's interest in mind lmao. Politicians consolidate power for themselves, merchants consolidate wealth. Governments exist to codify and legitimize power, businesses exist to accrue profit; no one anywhere has ever had the "people's interest" in heart, because why the hell would they? Why am I obligated to toil away in order to provide for others? People do work to improve their own lives, not the lives of others; this is simply incidental. The only ones who have a problem with this, are the weaklings that depend on others to provide for them; because they know they'd be driven extinct the moment they can't guilt-trip others into giving them free shit lol. "The people's interest in mind" LMAO, that's a hoot.

[@abelabel3664]

​@@KevinJohnson-cv2no Sure thing, buddy... When I trade gifts with my family it is certainly about profit. Gotta love semantics.

[@privatenorby]

Surprised you didn't mention how Google used to have the phrase "don't be evil" in their corporate motto, but secretly erased it some years ago.

[@jacpratt8608]

😄 I remember that! Did even Google get too embarrassed by its silliness? It had to be 'secretly erased'! So now all sorts can use it free. Some sports team too I think. 😆

[@jacksevert3099]

That's because before then Google vowed to never work with the US Military. That changed with Sundar.

[@robinphilbrick425]

Goes to show that they are even aware of their evil. That makes it that much worse, although ignorance is still akin to evil.

[@juliankohler5086]

I heard that was a legacy from before they became a public company with stocks and stuff like that. It was those two guys' motto. It became contradictory and obsolete without them

[@juliankohler5086]

The "real surprise" is how _Apple's_ horrible predatory practices have been quietly omitted from the documentary. This is a mockery of a documentary. He's afraid of talking about one of the worst offenders exactly for the reason why they're the worst: he's afraid of Apple's legal team.

[@Romashka_Sov]

Google in 1998: "We expect that advertising funded search engines will be inherently biased towards the advertisers and away from the needs of the consumers. Gis type of bias is very difficult to detect, but could still have a significant effect on the market. We believe the issue of advertising causes enough mixed incentives that it is crucial to have a competitive search engine that is transparent and in the academic realm" (1:00:56) Google 25 years later:

[@drewl5221]

Niw they use advertisers as a cudgel to cancel people. Look at elon musk amd his "anti-semitic" tweets. You either toe the line, or they remive your ability to make money.

[@guycomments]

they were supposed to be the ONE.

[@JimmyJamesJimbo]

@@guycommentsStar Wars fan 😂

[@panafrican.nation]

Why do I have a sense of déjà vu... cough OpenAI (cough)?

[@orenestrada2007]

GOOGLE = NOT TRUST WORTHY.

[@Jasontyo]

Lobbying seems to be the single largest problem in all of human society.

[@RickL_was_here]

Opensecrets. Great site to figure out who's actually running the government.

[@djon3043]

I mean lobbying doesn’t really have its own morality. It’s just a tool, like a hammer. It can be used to build wonderful things, build awful things, or it could be used to destroy things. Lobbying is the same. Lobbying is also how dispriviledged groups get the government to take notice of and serve their needs.

[@WynnofThule]

​@@djon3043direct action much?

[@TI.T.O]

its the american military industrial complex and it needs to be dismantled in order to save the planet. its the only to be able to move forward. They are holding us all back

[@Sjefke1]

@@djon3043 "Dispriviledged groups"? It's the most priviledged people and company's that disproportionally influence politics because lobbying is a matter of money

[@groadybones]

Bill Gates: "Wah, software shouldn't be free, unless I need to undercut a market."

[@epelly3]

It’s worse than that… he released it for free bc he didn’t think internet browsers were going to become mainstream. He got lucky

[@jfbeam]

@@epelly3 Negative. M$ released ("builtin") IE intentionally to kill Netscape. If IE is already installed with the OS, who's going to bother finding anything else? And that's exactly what happened. AND why M$ wrote it into their distribution contracts that IE is not to be removed, and no other browser was to be installed. AND why they built their own "extensions" to HTML, and language (ActiveX)... Or are you too young to remember the days of websites that only worked properly on IE?

[@robbietorkelsonn8509]

you are using the word free wrong. It is "included", not "free"

[@ferencszabo3504]

Gates was always a twisted mind! That's why I'm concerned about his "humanitarian" activities!

[@zochbuppet448]

Shouldn't be free unless I'm late in the game and need to catch up on lost revenues by user/ customer data mining by pilfer and track users personal information, and using forced lowlands so you comply and cannot resist.

[@theethans898]

I feel more like I used to swim around freely in the ocean but someone has dropped huge nets and is trying to keep me in a bubble of approved information and narratives

[@facedog5406]

It disingenuous to compeltely ignore how media politicians and corporate world has intentionally erroded social values in concert which enabled/encouraged people on the edge to commit heinous acts. Its dispicable how society's "leaders" intentionally mislead misinformed to create this GOTHAM-esq air of insanity the past 3 years. The Epstein class are erroding social values to reflect their absence of values and normalizing debauchery and degeneracy.

[@onknee]

Bubble theory look it up

[@gregoryepp9414]

Well said

[@thegoodfight365]

Great analogy.

[@piotrd.4850]

I'd rather say that all of the sudden prevailing currents have somehow started.... and, like in real world, noise level has increased.

[@landrec2]

This hit hard. Gimmicky crap has replaced the cool and interesting internet I first logged into. Shopping malls that spy on you- is a good description of how things are now. Hopefull that things will change, people will reject this crap. Excellent editing and production here.

[@KratostheThird]

You must love Frank Zappa.

[@landrec2]

@@KratostheThird Damn right. Him and his band members are legends imo, Their live performances are some of the tightest and most absurd coolness ever.

[@Cooe.]

... Which you say as you yourself sit and watch KZbin served by Google... 🤦 Hypocrite much?

[@mobilemarshall]

you can't be a hypocrite when there's a monopoly, also you're a persona weeb your opinion doesn't matter @@Cooe.

[@lapetusX]

Unfortunately they have not rejected any of it and now we have the worst privacy rights in the world, only China gets remotely close.

[@user-bx4vo2jc9r]

Internet was once a fun place. Now maybe it's not so much. As a grown ups who knew the world a little bit better, I know how this works. The touch of the politicians are always death touch XD

[@adambreezy251]

PoLIEticians

[@rhamlet5290]

No, the touch of the capitalists is the death touch

[@KM-fb1kw]

It's not the politicians it is corporate elites. We no longer have politicians. We have corporate puppets.

[@Kobe_Jay_Kenobii]

​@@KM-fb1kwthey were always corporate puppets lol

[@Ryan-Fkrepublicnz]

Politicians are just puppets of the plutocracy

[@gav240z]

Having worked for a big silicon valley tech firm for 11.5 years, I'm a firm believer that we need alternatives. They simply wield too much control over our lives and data. We need to be able to break free from their imposed shackles.

[@shehuyakubu3751]

It will never happen for as long as whites are predominantly racist. And the very fact that most whites will hate this comment tells you everything! Just as “Al qaeda “ was used as a buzzword to get you to hand over your freedoms and “MAGA “ so will your innate disposition to see other humans apart from yourselves as inferior be FOREVER USED AGAINST IN THE DECEIT THAT IT IS “FOR YOU”! I’ll do you one better. Your modern civilization is predicated on a deep hatred for “God” and “Religion”. So with the triple stress points of “Race, God and Religion” your leadership have you all in a chokehold and regardless of all your pontificating you are them and they are you. They are just doing the “necessary evil” that provides the privileges you all thrive off! This is why when the hour is established no excuse will be accepted from you and these same leaders will say to you “don’t blame us, all we did was call to you and you answered nay you were criminals yourselves!” How y’all can sit there and agree that this whole existence, this magnificent universe appeared out of nothing and we are just random organisms that exist with no purpose than hedonism! Then dare to question the organisms who preoccupy themselves with self aggrandizement, monopoly and control? On what objective morality do you object? If a spec of snow overcomes a spec of dust who is right and who is wrong? So if these big tech ceo organisms overcome us lesser working class organisms then what?????

[@buttsbrown2442]

While true, how do you stop the alts from becoming the next Google? Or do we just need to start the cycle over every decade?

[@AntiContradiction]

How does Facebook, a website that you have to volunteerily sign up for and log on every day, control your life?? You have to allow yourself to get to that point.

[@janedoe5048]

@@AntiContradiction: Oh stop pretending it's that simple. You cannot function without an internet presence. You need an email. All terms of Service are the exact same, they get everything and we get nothing. It's even worse than people realize. They are underhandedly taking copy write of our bios. When internet first started it was free, with users granting permissions for web functionality. That has been slowly and methodically eroded as big tech got slicker and all urls exchanged info.. Now that economies are dependent on it the rules are like a noose tightening around our neck. Like everything capitalist, fiat money, oligarchs "owning" everything and being all powerful, it is nothing more than a mind f_ck. Once we all realize that wether are finished. What people don't realize is that because of technology the power we have, power in numbers, is slowly slipping away as they use technology to lock us up with the flick of a switch. This is the last time we will get to fight for freedom. Whoever wins wins forever.

[@sliceoflife4220]

How

[@edwardlwittlif]

I first logged into the internet when I was seven years old in 1997. Ever since, I've watched with dismay as what used to be a wild world of freedom and creativity has been gradually colonized, piece by piece, by big business, a space that once felt functionally infinite now consolidated into a handful of privately owned platforms. This video is an incredible piece that provides real context about, and insight into, the withering of that dream. Thank you.

[@scottjohnson5687]

Yeah the corporate drones end up ruining anything fun

[@gregoryepp9414]

Privately owned corporations working with and on the behalf of the government while being granted legislative and judicial advantages. Literal corporate socialism or government established monopolies.

[@briannawaldorf8485]

@@gregoryepp9414 the most fascinating thing I find is most people I talk to in the same class (low to lower middle class) regardless of political ideology, complain of the way corporations monopolise markets and the way governments aid in this. I have found the predictability of left or right being whether they blame the corporations or the government more for this problem. But fascinatingly everyone agrees it’s a problem. Of course corporations without the support of the state have more difficult time upholding their property. However I feel that as corporations have become multinational they have superseded the necessity of government support because of how engrained their are in so many countries. It makes me wonder if all states collapsed, I believe corporations would still have enough power and wealth to not only still exist but become the state. It deeply frightens me as I believe we have entered a new form of feudalism but by the divine right of capital instead of the divine right of kings.

[@siralexander3359]

Geocities

[@jsnrock]

​@@briannawaldorf8485 kings became kings in the past by having lots of wealth in the form of land. In a sense this would just be next generation feudalism.

[@icvideoservices]

Very good summary. As someone who has worked "on the internet" in various IT jobs, it's good to see such an accurate description of the history.

[@saltedslug]

Those of us who yearn for the "old" web are still there, but maybe in smaller numbers. What Neocities is doing to revitalize the personal website is wonderful, but it's still a very small community. Webrings pop up here and there occasionally, as do link farms and archives of old web design images. I think what the Internet Archive is doing is some of the most important work in the world right now. I don't want the younger generations to forget or never know what the Internet WAS and what it could be. I tell all my students about it. In summer school, I had my younger kids code their own personal websites and showed them examples of what things used to be like. I educate them about the mindset of the "personal" Internet before social media. I hope it makes a difference, but it is hard to swallow the sense of dread and impending doom ever-building in my throat about our trajectory as a species. Thank you for creating this work. You really nailed every moment in this unique history poignantly and fairly.

[@bingleflort4338]

Wish I got to experience the old web. wish it was easier to find people trying to relive it too.

[@pennywaldrip3774]

I lived through all of this, and had only a slim awareness of most of it even happening. Now it turns my stomach to have the history listed out so clearly in "these people warned" followed by "and here that thing happened."

[@odinallfarther6038]

I got called a tin hat conspiracy theorist for suggesting it as we were going through it . The usual don't be stupid they would not do that .

[@Tribuneoftheplebs]

I remember having handfuls of AOL free trial discs as a kid and being so happy knowing I had all those free trials! 😆

[@MattSpoon07]

I bet you caught some sportyball games tho huh?

[@laurastabell2489]

I remember people talking at the time things were going through congress. It would be nice to get rent from the access, some return for taxpayer dollars spent. We might have in lower fees, venture capitol given due to low up front investment. Its hard to see after the fact how it would have panned out. Also, dont forget, what wealthier people have that working poor dont, a right to attend and vote at share holder meetings. If you get any social services you cant own assets over a very small amount. Reading through state web sites, some say savings accounts upvtova few thousand dollars and one vehicle but you can own homes. Just think, if the poor were given stock shares from those sales and were also allowed to hold more assets, after a while, they wont be poor!

[@robbietorkelsonn8509]

the maker of the video is lying to you It's a technique in media, that portrays the wanted outcome as a natural occuring phenomenon. See what they did, they made it exactly in accordance to my biases In all actuality Microsoft is a tiny fraction of the company it once was and is on the cusp of becomming completely irrelevant.

[@stephenthompson3309]

Watching these videos of early server rooms through KZbin is like the internet showing me its baby pictures.

[@thefrayedends]

Kind of crazy that this 2-hour doc barely even scratched the surface lol

[@kasulewilliams784]

Do u recommend?

[@thefrayedends]

@@kasulewilliams784 There's def some stuff in there I didn't know, and I found it interesting. But I would say it's a foundational work, and it isn't really complete, and doesn't even delve into any of the governance and net neutrality stuff, nor does it even mention the current day things like the majority of the web being hosted on Amazon servers or the control exerted by credit card companies. Good place to start if you want to know how we got to the most recent decade. And ya, I guess I can't expect it to be thesis level complexity. Pacing kind of clunky, tiresome interludes. If you can handle 1.5 or double speed, I'd recommend.

[@KarrasBommer]

To me the internet has always been about sharing. From 2000 to 2009 I was a webmaster and I learned more about coding from these warm and gracious complete strangers in cyberspace than I ever learned in school.

[@KarrasBommer]

@Toask I know...but they really can't stop us.

[@wedaringu667]

Americans live under a constant delusion of freedom of choice. Corporations have been running the show for over a century. Enjoy what freedoms you can before life itself disappears entirely behind a paywall.

[@KratostheThird]

@@wedaringu667 America has always been an Oligarchy. Winston Churchill said Democracy was the most flawed form of government, and he was right. It’s just a system that doesn’t have you living under complete terror as fascism and to a lesser extent communism have you doing.

[@terrywilder9]

@@KratostheThird Hey idget! You left out the other half of the quotation!

[@serbianspaceforce6873]

@@wedaringu667 when the internet was very very early corporations didnt know what they were doing, there were hobbyists and amateur programmers with as much skill and information as people inside the corporate ladder, and thus there was a level playing field. There was a very brief period where the internet was somewhat free, before corporations realized it wasn't a fad and invested in ruining it

[@Dark_Tesla]

It’s criminal how under appreciated this channel is.

[@gregbors8364]

He needs to show more Star Wars clips

[@commandZee]

Share it with your friends, subscribe, and SMASH that like button... we're doomed 🤣

[@Dark_Tesla]

@@commandZee my friends don’t like stuff like this :(

[@generaljellyroll8737]

Just keep making quality content and given enough time, popularity is inevitable but not the reason behind creating

[@LWNk83]

@@Dark_Tesla feel you, this system be currupting minds of so many good people

[@harishchandarb8188]

A small correction , BASIC was created by two people from DARTMOUTH COLLEGE ,Bill gates and Allen simply made,adapted a version of the BASIC to work on the MITS ALTAIR

[@johnreybartolata2405]

Last parts of the vid made cry as if I'm watching a drama...keep fighting for the original purpose of the internet... Respect for the courage of those who dared to stand up against big companies... Thanks to the production team of this videos who made this type of information available...Great Job. No words can express how priceless this work is.. That means a lot for me who came up from a country which these big companies leeching out... I'm from the Philippines..

[@thomasslone1964]

that's what I'm doing every time I post a hilarious review on a product I haven't bought or call some one gay

[@sabrinatscha2554]

I had a buttload of articles relating to the NATO bombing of Belgrade bookmarked and saved to my favorites. Recent developments in Serbia have made me go back to search for them only to find that almost every single one of them has been scrubbed from the Internet. Also tons of articles relating to illegal grow operations in Northern California and articles about bodies being dumped at the southern border (US) Everybody thinks that it is about money. It’s not. They want us to be dumb and malleable

[@dustylegobricks]

Because dumb people won't challenge their power. The dumbest will believe they are helping us

[@some_random_wallaby]

The internet archive is your friend ;) (Worth a try, at least)

[@Riu-bw4bl]

@@some_random_wallabyI’m worried they’ll eventually try to get rid of that. Under the guise of ‘copyright’ or something. A feeling in me says the internet archive won’t be around for many years to come

[@chrystalblue7170]

Yep. I had 1000s of saved sites that np longer exist. Most I can't find on wayback machine either.

[@watchamakallit6177]

I bet the usual suspects totaly involven on every rackett and scam crime fleece, the UN and globalist sponsored scams

[@_Stin_]

I started coding in 1985, in the village infant school, on a BBC I think it was. I remember getting dial-up in high school - just the one Acorn A5000. I was so enthused by the prospect and possibilities of an interconnected community of academics, engineers and scientists. I had used JANet and saw the rise - and subsequent, prolonged corruption - of the Internet in real-time and, after watching this, I am so happy and relieved that someone with the resources and ability created such a perfect chronology of how the Internet got used and abused by private profit interests. I'm so, so glad I'm not the only one who has noticed this. It was a hell of a kick on the head when adverts and even registering to use sites started popping up. I knew at that point that the cracks in the fabric of the Internet were getting much more obvious. Kids nowadays probably wouldn't be able to comprehend an Internet where you weren't tracked or registered in some database. Hell, I even remember when all you had to do to get a domain name was to ask nicely and give a reason of what you wanted to use it for. No money, just justification. Whereas today, you don't have to justify, just have the money. And don't get me started on cookies and the chaos that is vanity TLDs. I'm thinking of joining the Gopher revolution and returning to a 1980s Internet - no 'algorithm', no cookies, no crap, no adverts, no tracking and it's soooo much faster lol The Internet was never made for commercial use and we're seeing the result of the misuse of the technology. And have you seen QUIC?? Such a hack. Subscribed!

[@sama847]

As a Gen Z kid who pretty much grew up on the internet, I saw this stuff happen in real time as well, albeit not as coherently as you did since I was a kid. Seeing the evolution of the internet from Web 2 to Web 3 has been a sobering experience. And I honestly doubt things will get better anytime soon. Now knowing the true intention of why the internet was created, and seeing it’s current state disgusts me. The fact scholarly articles are often hidden behind paywalls and the only way I can access them is through my institution should be considered a crime tbh

[@Spico_]

You should check out the KZbin channel: *Second Thought* Videos: _"How Capitalism Destroyed The Internet"_ and _"Censorship and the Future of the Internet"_

[@mikehunt8375]

I agree with everything except the internet is doing exactly what it was created for... You were just told differently. Just look at any piece of technology you own, every single one of them is used to control you in some way, if you still believe that's all by chance then sadly you're PROGRAMMED just like everyone else. Your fake leaders, who don't care about fake money, like everyone else, have been planning your prison for a very long time... Longer then anyone will ever accept. Do you think you're free? That you have a choice? That you live in a Democracy? LOL Trust me, hell you trust everything you see on TV and learn in school, your entire reality is fake, you're trapped in a cult, everything you believe is completely made up and usually the exact opposite of what is right in front of your eyes... Good luck, we're are all going to need it.

[@ytisfulloffreaks4189]

@@sama847 u just come across as right oddball to me lmao

[@sama847]

@@ytisfulloffreaks4189 I mean yea I’ve been terminally online with no supervision since I was 8 bruh what do you expect😂

[@brainwithani5693]

This is one of the best documentaries I've seen. Thanks for all the hard work that must have gone into this!

[@Isaacoun100]

This has to be my favorite documentary so far, it shows an amazing understanding of the topic, while showing the needed research to back up the claims and also provide insightful commentary based on the provided info

[@JorgReinhardtLinuxAdmin]

Excellent documentation. That's a level of quality traditional media just can''t provide, since the niche for that is sadly so small. A channel like this should have a lot more subscribers.

[@wonderfulworldofmarkets9033]

As someone who has just taken a History of Computing class, the number of errors in this video are hillarious. From the "first modern computer in 1951" to the description of ARPANET this is a lazy video essay rushing through history to reach the conclusion the author desires. Its sad that this is what KZbin intellectualism on the right and left is: having a conclusion and coming up with supporting evidence for it.

[@ObjectiveMedia]

It’s not that the niche is small, it’s that they’re job is to misinform and mislead us.

[@Spico_]

You should check out the KZbin channel: *Second Thought* Videos: _"How Capitalism Destroyed The Internet"_ and _"Censorship and the Future of the Internet"_ He uses a shorter ~20 min format, but still very good.

[@ObjectiveMedia]

@@wonderfulworldofmarkets9033 Economically/politically the video is centrist (think Bernie sanders) at best. Theres nothing truly left wing about this video.

[@168original7]

@@wonderfulworldofmarkets9033 That's a bit obvious, I used to make youtube videos and that's practically what you do, also add a clickbait thumbnail and pande to the viewer, saying how the consumer isn't bad or their actions have had any effect on how businesses do their work and and how this big corporations is bad. You just need to have a point and appeal to people by cherry picking sources and using an us versus them mentally usually being 'us' being the poor people with no power and 'them' being the ones with power. All of this is just entertainment and you can't youtube videos seriously unless it's to learn about an actual topic like computer science.

[@Rnankn]

For some reason my Dad got a connection to the internet very early, when I still had to run it in DOS with green text commands on a black screen. I was amazed by the message boards, and remember when photos first appeared online. Even then, I very consciously thought of this new network as a ‘self organizing anarchy’, and believed it was a direct challenge to the capitalist social order. And then, over the course of my life, it was a downward spiral of advertising, commerce, and corporate takeover. Now I just scream at the relentless commercials on KZbin, and contemplate ways to live off grid.

[@brandonmorel2658]

Get an adblocker. Not seeing ads everywhere gives a little piece of mind.

[@dorisreynolds8904]

The first time I saw a home computer. I just felt nothing good was going to come of everyone having one.

[@MorphicStates]

LOL I sometimes miss the old BBS days and monochrome screens. I keep all my terminals set to monochrome green for nostalgic purposes. ;-)

[@jillfryer6699]

get Adblock?🙂

[@SarahdeeHartman-bq5vm]

Amen sing it from the ROOF TOPS‼️

[@corycourtney8923]

An unbelievably well informed and crafted video. Thank you so much for making something so high quality.

[@ironnick6399]

that's just the british accent and old stock footage talking.

[@SupramanRambled]

I have watched this video multiple times, shared it with friends, and I will never not be blown away by how well edited the intro segment is.

[@CC3GROUNDZERO]

Adam Curtis' influence is clearly visible :)

[@zoe_bee]

Oh my gosh, this was an incredible deep-dive. I recently read the book "What Tech Calls Thinking," which illuminates how Silicon Valley has created this mythos of creation and freedom around themselves, and how none of it is really real. Your "history of the future" fits neatly beside these ideas, and it's all so frustrating and disheartening. But here's to hoping we can imagine a new future 🔥💜

[@ThenNow]

Thank you, Zoe. Adding What Tech Calls Thinking to my reading list. Thanks again for helping out!

[@KevinJohnson-cv2no]

"And how none of it is really real" So tech innovations and creative solutions to problems don't arise out of Silicon Valley?

[@ggrthemostgodless8713]

Silicon Valley WAS the center for innovation, but ironically they created the tools and means for a decentralization of innovation, but in those years if anyone in the space was creative there was no better place to be than Silicon Valley. It wasn't a "mythos" it was real, but now with those tools created there anyone can be creative from their own home. And in fact that is what is happening, work from home, or outsource it to India or anywhere in the planet, skills is what matters... Hell, if you want to take a bit further, BEFORE Silicon Valley and its heyday, any creative coder or computer nerd that was worth his salt HAD TO COME to the USA to use his talents, that's the 90s years... but not now. The world's brain drain INTO the USA in those decades was incredible but not now.

[@nuvisionprinting]

@@ThenNow i'd highly recommend the capital order by Clara E. Mattei - just started it and holy hell does it bring some facts on the history of neoliberalism and austerity.

[@nateclipps]

Hey Zoe!! Nice seeing you hereeeee!❤

[@prtsp7843]

it feels weird to have lived through this all, but never being aware of what happened behind the surface

[@serijas737]

Filter Bubble.

[@H0mework]

No big picture for me until this.

[@SuperFlashDriver]

I know how that feels, especially in a suburban where you don't know that many people left in the neighborhood that you have known for years, only to be replaced by two races that get paid 10x more than you, a person whom has lived in a neighborhood for 20+ years, only for you to know the people you've met in school are not as worried as you are, not in line with your interests. Thus, you end up isolating yourself from the world, knowing horrible things have happened over the past three decades. I do miss the 2000s internet, it was a lovely time to be on there when social media was just starting to be used in the public. However, I was always a KZbin person since 2006, and unlike video site alternatives, no other website has grabbed my attention to watch videos and not recommend the other videos as much as KZbin and Odyssee does. Both of those websites, along with Pocketnet, discord, and telegram, as usually the applications I use for my need, all separated. Odyssee and Pocketnet for content that's more political, podcast commentaries, and deep state fake news conspiracy theory content that I can dive into if I want (Bastyon/Pocketnet has their own decentralized video site, but I do wish they'll allow unlisted uploads so this way I can put up some sort of entertainment on there....Oh well, not to be that is), Discord and Telegram for chat, and KZbin and Odyssee for video content binging.

[@evanthomass]

Bill Gates... the philanthropist... more and more people are starting to see through him, and they don't like what they see.

[@hannah-6080]

Yes. Just hearing the word Netscape is crazy, I completely forgot about it but I remember many years ago using my grandpa's computer (he was a real computer guy who worked for IBM in the 70s) and seeing Netscape Navigator on the toolbar, and him explaining that was an old browser most people weren't using anymore

[@livedoom]

I always knew even as a kid they would turn the internet into cable tv.

[@somo4227]

they tried,most people fell for it and some still keep the old internet alive

[@brendab.5111]

Gross ain’t it? I pay $60.00 bucks plus tax a month for informercials and a little basic tv.😢

[@3dsmaxrocks699]

When cable TV first came out we were told NO MORE COMMERCIALS!! I knew that was lie.

[@officialconsciouscommunity]

not "cable tv," a *propaganda weapon!*

[@somo4227]

@@officialconsciouscommunity aka all social media

[@minxyone9345]

This was so well made and well done. There is so much more and so many rabbit holes that you could have chased down on this topic, but I think you made the best choices to make your points and to support them with really great research and examples.

[@o0o-jd-o0o95]

Even before watching this video I used to tell people that Google is not a tech company... Google is an advertising agency

[@unlearningeconomics9021]

So happy to feature in this video. The internet is a fantastic case study into how the commons can be appropriated and destroyed by capitalism.

[@ThenNow]

Thank you and thanks for helping out. Much, much appreciated.

[@MattSpoon07]

Can either one of yall point out to me the socialist or communist society that invents new things or innovates old things?

[@99EKjohn]

@@MattSpoon07 Nope they can't. They probably couldn't tell you her Menger is either, or what marginal utility is.

[@Cheo.M]

​@@MattSpoon07the Russians, Chinese, and WW2 Germans...

[@russell7054]

​@@MattSpoon07never knew nasa, US military et al was privatised. You do know capital markets want quick returns - well that doesn't allow for long term investments. Govts can allocate resources better. They invest in development. Now read some books and check on german, soviet, ancient Egyptian, ancient China etc etc etc state funded innovations. Also many socialist countries eg Austria invented affordable housing. Cope harder.

[@captainblood9616]

You produce a very English style of documentary which, having grown up in 70's -80's England, I really appreciate. The quality is excellent and would be worthy of any of the English television networks. So impressed to see something like this produced independently. Bravo!

[@peterc.1419]

A little Anglo-chauvinism there.

[@zackwhite501]

Maybe, but as far as English language documentaries go, the English make darn good ones. I think it’s a structural thing, like how documentaries get funding and produced and what. I’m not an expert that’s just my impression. Although frontline deserves an honorable mention I think. However, End of Empire is the greatest documentary series I’ve personally ever seen. End game in Ireland and the one about the war in Yugoslavia were also incredible I think by the same people.

[@cvr527]

@@zackwhite501 The English make damn good propaganda. Entertaining, partly factual, partly false. Sadly the English are rapidly losing the ability to even make an entertaining TV show these days.

[@everything777]

Everyone knows that as soon as you hear an American voice over on a documentary, it will be moronic content that reiterates the same three points over and over in order to facilitate the next advert break

[@lotuseater7247]

@@cvr527 Judging by the videos you watch, I can't say that you really know what entertaining or good tv is. 'lose' not 'loose' btw.

[@DaughtersofOrion]

Wow. So well said. I have been talking about how they are predicting what we are thinking about , and not at all reading our minds , as so many people fear . Which imo is worse. Haha. You have managed to articulate so many things that I have not seen any other KZbinr talk about yet. I can’t believe I’m just now seeing this video. But I’m subscribing! Great work !

[@jazzritter4200]

This is a great documentary, my mind is being blown every 2 minutes. The software we take for granted has such a complicated, rich history and you've done a superb job of presenting it. Thank you, keep it up

[@mathewgomes103]

It honestly breaks my heart into pieces learning about the history of the net

[@KratostheThird]

It breaks my heart seeing how it went from a Wild West internet of mom and pop store operated ISPs to this corporate behemoth controlled by a few mega corporations showing us what they want us to see and not see.

[@BillyBasd]

Learning about history period breaks my heart. I keep going and learning more We have to learn from history or the suffering is pointless. We can have a decent life for all or what we have now. Heaven for a few, precarious purgatory for most, with absolute hell for too many

[@drewl5221]

The younger generation has no idea how open the internet was back in the day. It _was_ like the wild west. Fun. Now, not so much these days.

[@nathankettle357]

CIA

[@stanstanmenson6897]

I think the most frustrating part of this video is that the people involved in taking over the internet will never be punished

[@harveylong5878]

if Crapple err I mean Apple especially Steve Jobs had a major hand in it, the sheeple would be slobbing Job's knob harder then they already do

[@shanejones578]

No people have ever paid for their crimes against humanity. Just ask the Russians, it’s why the hate us. We took in German and Japanese mercenaries building this tech and adapted it as our own for “national security”. Of course their cooperation saved them any jail or punishment, they were given a top salary and the highest clearances in US govt…

[@aby110]

Even dating has been entirely transformed by the internet and the emergence of dating apps. Now even that has been turned into a shopping mall that spies on you.

[@Jack-lw5kh]

I recall watching Werner Herzog's 'Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World' when it came out in 2016, and coming away from it with an odd, contrasting mixture of wonder at the innovation, genius and optimism of those who were at the core of developing the internet, but also a really sad, disappointing and apathetic lull at the inevitability of where we find ourselves. This is a fabulous documentary which gets to the heart of the same issue, and all these feelings are reprising in me once again, some 7 years later. After those 7 years, it is incredibly bleak to reflect on just how much this regression and insidious carving out of one of modern technology's greatest gifts has gouged at the heart of our global, national, public and private cores. Yes, the internet allows me to effortlessly find and learn from remarkable creative works such as this, but we are simply swamped by the hedonistic masses of digital waste that make up the larger chunk of the visible internet. It is like a beautiful body that has been eaten alive by an aggressive cancer, leaving a few remnants amongst the dying cells of a once cohesive and promising mass. A truly modern tragedy.

[@russell7054]

Not seen that documentary; thanks for mentioning it. Love Herzog.

[@getbbudded23]

I think I’ve lost all hope in humanity. Whenever one group or company gets greedy and becomes monopolistic there’s always another one to come along and think they can do better and then they muck it up even more. It’s been going on since the beginning of time. Excellent freakin video, very well done.

[@EmilyKresl]

Well I always cheer when he mentions Richard Stallman cuz I'm an old school nerd and I know as long as there are white hat hackers out there I'll always have faith in humanity!

[@watchamakallit6177]

The catch"20" who cares if its catch "57" etc its thet they call totalitarian evil regime, "capitalism" mixed up with "democracy" thats why "plato", "socrates" etc high schol phile was cut and all info channels 1 corporation of rubbish info, public educTion a "religious" fraud etc....

[@DanielMemetic]

One thing in common to all of these cycles is the fact that the government was used to cement the power of the incumbent, and then the government was used to fight the encumbent and cement a new one. Yet people can't seem to notice that it is centralized power through the government that corrupts all efforts of ever making things better. As if it is so hard to grasp a simple principle that force as an incentive never causes any good without simultaneously creating some other evil. It is a primitive and unsophisticated way of solving social problems, yet we keep harping on it over and over and over again until it truly is hopeless.

[@maryhalverson5713]

@@DanielMemetic Never give up. There's always a way.

[@elizabethhenderson3747]

I have learned that power does everything it can to be unaccommodating to us. I have lost a lot of hope in humanity. Love is a rare treasure, and an emotional spiritual instrument that many of us don't know how to properly operate. Those monsters in high places believe our population would better our planet if reduced to 500,000 I'm inclined to agree! I've seen the evidence of societal decay; extinction; pollution of air and water. Enough is enough. Take me first, bury me in the earth that I so love so very much. There are also new kinds of monsters that want the population to double. They love the chaos, disorder, more control, more homeland security, more prisons, more taxes. Why do you think they are ending abortion at every level all of a sudden? You think they love the unborn when they don't even love you? Do you think they care about our teeth so much so to poison-fluoridate our water? What they do, they do in the guise of love which is unnatural love. The concern they have for us is artificial. We are the cows they milk. Makes me nauseous.

[@zen-ventzi-marinov]

This one is going to get popular.

[@ALCRAN2010]

Yes. This inter net doodad sure sounds like a winner!

[@amellirizarry9503]

Hopefully 🤞

[@Horsthunder]

Inshallah

[@beangobernador]

plz

[@allyson87]

Sorry, I don’t see people who aren’t already familiar with the channel getting pulled in for 2 hours. Idk why some of the edutainment creators are making such long videos now, but they’re limiting their reach. Seems like people confuse length for depth and breath, but summarizing and discerning which details include are extremely important skills in research and education

[@clockworkcookie]

This was so good. The airbnb segment hits hard bc I live in one of the most expensive cities in the world, lisbon, bc of tourism, even though we earn some of the worst salaries in europe. The rents have skyrocketed and there's a lot of homeless people or those who return to their parents home at like, 30+ or even 40 years old. 😑

[@andrewhardy7086]

Great video. Thanks for putting your time into this.

[@TheDominionOfElites]

I started using the internet as a kid around 2003. MSN and google were my staples. This has been educational. What I look back on as a Wild West free period was already a bought and sold land of platforms/services that people had been fighting over for a decade already.

[@toddsalisbury3851]

You could hop on the internet and access anything damn near. So many games, so many platforms or search engines. It all sucks now and that's why I'm slowly working at unplugging

[@MrMirville]

The free Wild West was never free. It was a territory directly ruled by mammoth land holders ruling though hired killers, many of them former Civil War Southern military commanders having gone private. It was feudalism, not anarchism. There was no place for lonesome cowboys. You were with the company or you were shot down.

[@miltown3920]

@@MrMirville ok mr mirville

[@jobethk588]

I remember those ubiquitous AOL CDs. We first logged on to the internet through a small company owned by my husband's cousin. Soon AT&T raised rates on their services and shut down mom and pop companies owning their own servers and selling dial-up service. They were forced to sell to bigger companies.

[@MeiinUK]

I have been wondering what happened to small or basic ISPs. What happened to those websites etc.

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

Everybody got those free AOL "coffee mug coasters". They worked fine at stopping water marks on end tables... ;-P

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

@@MeiinUK I keep trying to make my old modem connection sound in a pay phone, but it never works... Hell, I can't even find a pay phone anymore (let alone a rotary phone)... Damn, I'm old... ;-P

[@Uffda.]

@@igorschmidlapp6987 i used to throw them in the microwave and make the cracked cds 😁

[@enzorocha2977]

Hearing alternative pronunciations of Yahoo and Linux is fun. Superb video, thoroughly enjoyed this. Thanks for sharing it.

[@muttch]

Great video study ! Thanks for production! ❤

[@blackborealis]

Just finished reading Internet For The People over Christmas. I feel like this documentary needs to be shown to everyone. So much of our modern world has been shaped by the privatization of the internet. What should have been humanities greatest tool of communication and liberation has instead become our greatest tool of oppression and manipulation.

[@KratostheThird]

I will never forgive Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg for what they did. There are at least a few more prominent figures that have made the internet worse, it's just that these two are the easiest to spot.

[@reylove33]

Absolutely. Modern day book burning. Sad affairs. These chat AIs will wreck havoc even more on what is true and what is propaganda.

[@user-xs6lu9nj3c]

I love that you provide concrete examples of solutions instead of just pointing out the problems.

[@ironnick6399]

such as?

[@adamsworld100]

A trip down memory road...I can remember the first time I was exposed to the internet. My Dad was an educator at a University around 1988. They had a minicomputer - I think it was a DEC. My dad had a leading edge PC on his disk and terminal if I recall. I can remember him showing me the @ sign and how to compose an email. The rest I have lived through since my first real job managing a computer store in 1986.

[@kevinshapiro9525]

I'm genuinely curious how you can have your 1st "real" job being a manager of a computer store? I managed a photo finishing large franchise subsidiary at 18, but that was far from my first real job. Which company and why would give a management position to a person with no prior experience in management in the infancy stage of an industry in a perceived low margin average markup sale situation? was it a tiny store in a small town that was family owned by your own family? Otherwise I need you to be my mentor lol im not kidding, Ill pay for this information if nessesary, because I've lived on every continent except Australia, im 42 years old with 2 university degrees and fluent in 6 languages but I cant imagine a setting where your story checks out unless you were a PHD in CPU Science before having any "real jobs"....please enlighten me, or more likely never make a comment on YT again because you can bet your life I will be watching lol , just kidding, seriously tho...how?.......also you started managing a computer store 2 years before you knew how to send an email? what were you selling in this store? Radios and GPS units? lol

[@TheVallin]

I remember back in 1999 while setting up my first Linux OS that I could have an Animated Background. It still shocks me that to this day, despite being a small feature, Windows OS still can't manage that simple feat. Monopoly surly does stagnate inovation, rather than spur it forward.

[@EnCounterCultureMedia]

I had grown up my whole life with the internet. When I was younger, the internet was the Wild West. You were largely on your own, and it was up to you to navigate the net to your favourite sites, and find message boards about your favourite topic. And the best part was it was all free, and commercializations (even ads) were minimal. Now that I’m in my early 20’s, I am horrified to see what it has become. It has been commercialized, sectioned off and enclosed like was the case with public land. I am not allowed in certain sites without paying a fee, I’m not allowed to read certain articles unless I’m an alumni of a specific school, I have to pay to use images I want to edit into memes. That is why I love your title, how the internet was stolen from us. I wanted to make a video on how we are in a unique time of commercializations, where the unregulated nature of the uncommercialized internet bleeds over to its commercializations; we have bizzare situations where alcohol and tobbacco are banned on TV for ads but you can find ads for magic mushrooms, Cannabis, liquor, unregulated substances and supplements. This lack of regulation was a net good when the internet was public infrastructure but it is an absolute net loss now it is commercialized. It is sort of a loophole to get around what can’t be shown on TV. as an edited ad on to explain what i meant about ads. Ads were everywhere dont get me wrong but it was always just popups, and side banners, or a short video on youtube before your video. this was not nearly as pervasive as ads are today. It is entirely pervasive in every part of our media consumption. We see ads in ways that we dont even realize theyre ads, every youtuber does a sponsership for raid shadow legends, they incorporate them into skits so that they can say that it was an attempt to make content rather than show off an ad, its just a funny skit not an ad according to their logic. You see ads as your first search results when shopping. You get monitered for you behaviour by google and literally every other company, and if they arent monitering you theyrer buying that data that google and other companies collected. This is everything from tthe time you spend on certain websites, to the mistakes and mispelling you type in the google search bar; this maybe indicates your in a rush, you type fast or even you may be intoxicated. They can infer this from all the other data they collect. Do you google neaerest liquor store alot? theyll take that and sell it to liquor companies and theyll target ads to you based on this data. Ever wonder why you get ads for things you wanted but didnt talk about? its because they collect SO MUCH DATA about your behaviours they can predict what you want and do next with insane accuracy. No spooky shit besides the mass surveillance. sorry project stargate conspiracists.

[@the__void__spaghetti__girl]

honestly not sure what you mean. ads were EVERYWHERE on the web, even in 1999. banners, popups, bonzibuddy.....

[@williamnutile2929]

Imagine my perspective at 75 years old having experienced the introduction to present day. My slide rule, required consciousness, today ??? Robotic TRANSHUMANS and AI WILL CERTAINLY INTEGRATE AND REPLACE HUMAN IMPERFECTION BUT NOT NATURAL ORDER RIGHTS OF HUMANS. THE WEALTHY BY DESIGNER BABY OFFSPRING AND TRANSHUMAN LABOR IS THE FINAL SOLUTION TO WHICH HITLER AND MOST ATTEMPTED, RELYING ON SUPER HUMAN ARIES ETC. NOW ONLY REQUIRES THE TRANSHUMAN SOLUTION SERVING THE GROWN DESIGNER BABY MONOPOLIES AND NOT PEASANT HUMANS . ONLY IN ZOOS AND SCIENCE EXPERIMENTATION WILL WE HUMANS BE FOUND IN 100 YEARS FROM NOW !! ITS PROFITABLE, AND COMMON SENSE ONLY .

[@EnCounterCultureMedia]

@@almo3250 born 2001, used the internet in 2007 onwards when I was about 6. I'm not sure what you mean

[@MephiticMiasma]

tobacco companies didn't want to advertise on TV, they were glad to get it banned.

[@D.von.N]

Almost any content hidden by a paywall on some news outlets can be found free on other sites. Their loss that they don't let people read their website. And those whose cookies you don't agree to and they don't let you read their pages I always say (to Healthline particularly): go fcuk yourself. So many other sources I can find the info I am looking for. As per scientific journals... well, it costs more money to produce research and publish it than just write some silly blog or news article. People with legitimate interest, like officially studying the subject, can access the content via their institutions.

[@thegreatujo]

Well, this was (is - since I'm not finnished watching) one hell of a trip down memory lane given that I've been using the internet since 1996. Gets pretty dark after ~1h8m as far as I am concerned. Brilliant work Lewis.

[@greatexpectations6577]

Why didn’t you try to create something for yourself? I am sure if you tried, something would have come out of your effort.

[@thegreatujo]

@@greatexpectations6577 ?!

[@Jakenatorr]

@@thegreatujo he must've had a brain fart

[@thegreatujo]

@@Jakenatorr I think he meant to reply to somebody else's comment.

[@scroopynooperz9051]

So let me get this straight.. metric sh!t tons of public funds are used to create some serious innovation over many years in .. and then private interest and corporate vultures move in to privatise and control that which the public should rightfully have a stake in? Takes "privatise the gains and socialize the losses" to a new level. We need to seriously reconsider our systems.

[@kevinbaker4693]

👌 Wow. A rabbit hole of Epic Proportion. Well done, Sir. A view thru the looking glass. Thank you 4 the ride.

[@quinton17]

Well researched and put together at a very high level and deeply insightful.

[@JosephGarlick]

Today's Internet is the worst thing that has happened to mankind. It's really REALLY sad.

[@itsthenewlifeofsomeone1]

💯

[@bennyblanco2523]

actually, it's the world's largest sting operation

[@wordTwoWise]

Then why are you using it if it’s so evil

[@wordTwoWise]

This video is propaganda….it’s probably funded by China

[@wordTwoWise]

What makes the internet so bad because it was funded by corporations….lol

[@MrZombiekiller23]

its amazing the judge in the napster trial was literally breaking down peer to peer file sharing and how napster isn't even involved in it and overall it wouldn't even be an infringement of copyrights. So wild how an older judge was so well versed in how the internet worked so early on in the internets history is so amazing to me for some reason, I would have imagined the judge wouldeve sided w the corporations

[@23erisx]

There's a lot of old farts around who understand things better than expected. It isn't about age really, it's about perspective and intellectual capacity and in some cases, pure fascination in a topic. That said, the napster case definitely made us aware that the old music industry business model was doomed.

[@MrZombiekiller23]

@@23erisx A good, moral judge is a good moral judge all the time so it makes sense, too bad the courts have been so thoroughly degraded since this time though, corporations own judges now almost exclusively. Anti-trust legislation is being used like it was always used originally, for the corporations against unions and the working class until the progressives and politicians like Teddy Roosevelt used the laws to reign corporate power in. It's truly the Gilded Age part 2, a platinum age if you will. robber barons are back in charge and more than ever

[@davideyres955]

What people forget about judges is that they are usually very intelligent people. They have to be as they have to make judgement on the matters of law.

[@NinthSettler]

This was a bit before corpos noticed they also needed to bribe judges

[@20chocsaday]

Some ISPs ban Peer to Peer sharing as part of the contract. Don't know how it is enforced.

[@christopherbettridge5983]

I've now been watching videos of yours/this channel, and whilst I've been impressed all around by the very obvious depth of the research that must have been done to formulate and convey the essence and substance of the subject matter in them with so much thoroughness and almost offhand ease in the presentation. It gives the viewer, at least for myself it did, the chance to absorb and ponder the knowledge given throughout and not lose the thread of the discourse. I know that a lot of preparatory work must go into these presentations beforehand; indeed you state at the end of the video that it was almost a year in the making. Well, I will take this chance to thank the creator for the job done on the channel overall, with particular emphasis on this video. I had seen it before, but I had meant to watch it again as I missed a lot the first time around. So almost an hour or so ago I came out of a pretty deep nod-off to realize that what I had thought were unusually well narrated dreams to find the algorithm had found a run of Then & Now videos and was playing them while I drifted; And I awoke (an apt metaphoric manifestation, if that's a thing) just near the beginning of this one and was struck by how much of the story that I thought I knew something about the end of tied so much, and in such twisting, yet linear and traceable ways, to a beginning I partly lived through but knew next to nothing about. Thank you so much for all the hard work and time that went into it; I tried to become a subscriber on Patreon last night/early morning but something went wrong which could very well indicate a state of financial insolvency (again!Didn't this just happen a few days ago? And a few before that, and.......) but I'll throw in what I can when I can. I think that it's not only well deserved but necessary, if you catch me drift. Of course we all do! Well, anyone who bothered reading this until the end. Thank you for the knowledge

[@kuki-chan9273]

It´s amazing to see how high the quality of these videos are. I appreciate this kind of content. I surely will recommend it to some people. I hope even more people will see your videos, especially teens. I will introduce my teacher for social and historical topics to your videos.

[@christiana.1204]

2 hours of Then and Now. This is like a movie.

[@ronatola]

My Brain only remembered that Microsoft LOST the anti-trust monopoly lawsuit, and forgot it was OVERTUNED by the Bush administration. Made my stomach churn. Great documentary - keep em coming!

[@Marksman560]

Deep, bro, I'm glad I watched this video. And thanks for making it 👍

[@sageschroeder]

Only halfway through, but this is so well done. The density of information, the pace, interconnectedness, the score…it’s all very good. It’s bringing back a lot of memories too, as someone born in 92, growing up using windows 95, America online..etc. this is a great deep dive, and this channel should have more subscribers.

[@Oelmiene]

The detail and production value is incredible, thank you for making this available for free here on KZbin!

[@Mike-yt4jq]

Wow what a great video. Informative and brought back a lot of memories from the 90's . I only had a sense of the politics involved in the technology scandals I heard of as a youth. Very enlightening. Thanks for the video

[@intendedtendencies]

Love the existential dread your videos give me. So well researched.

[@MentalWanderings]

Love you, stranger. Building a better world happens one step at a time, wherever they lay. I appreciate the step you've taken here.

[@mikedrop4421]

How can someone speak like he's moving in slow motion for 2 hours and create a video that feels like it's 20 minutes long? I'm guessing that the slick editing, liberal application of punny humor and dry wit, fascinating deep cut facts and an absolute banger soundtrack that is synced with the visuals and even the script. Absolutely stellar job. You've earned my subscription and like for sure.

[@watchamakallit6177]

Like thi$$$$... simple eeh!(likes)

[@EmilyKresl]

Well it's always good to stretch those brain muscles and watch something educational that'll be absorbed by your short attention span.

[@surfinbird7710]

I love the flashing imagery, it really edges my photosensitive epilepsy. Thanks!

[@Jim-hg3te]

I’m very glad I was introduced to your channel today. VERY well put together documentary!

[@izzythefizzy4]

I've been wanting some history of the internet and the digital era, this seems like a great start

[@99jdave99]

While not *directly* related to the internet itself, instead on the hardware of the earliest computers, check out the youtube channel Ahoy's video "the first video game." It's a very well researched glimpse into the extreme early days of computer technology; imo it's very good companion material :) Edit: Also, check out we're in hell's "a history of spam" video; that one is directly related to internet/digital history. He made multiple voice features in this vid too, lol.

[@chineseboxer108]

You might want to read the book "The Innovators" by Walter Isaacson.

[@watchamakallit6177]

Dont stop here

[@clemensschmid7641]

This is such a well made video. I hope this gets the attention it deserves.

[@musicdev]

It won’t, but I continue to hope as well. This channel is a goldmine in an internet full of garbage

[@tayloreverard2039]

it won't, his videos are made to tell the story he wants to tell not the story the algorithm prefers. I like to think that this is because he knows that over the course of longer time periods that good videos survive.

[@Spico_]

You should check out the KZbin channel: *Second Thought* Videos: _"How Capitalism Destroyed The Internet"_ and _"Censorship and the Future of the Internet"_

[@Nucleic_Power]

Great internetspotting work, mate! I finally have a clue why they are feasting on us by using FLOSS as wording strategies.

[@headwerkn]

Brilliant work. There aren’t too many 2hr+ videos that can hold my attention but this absolutely did. I do wonder how sustainable a combo Facebook/Twitter alternative with complete ‘feed control’ ie. you build your own algorithm, with no advertising and no tracking, for a dollar or three a month would be?

[@dandeeteeyem2170]

Timely message. Thank you for posting this. People need to understand how these people came into power, in order to understand who we're dealing with today

[@_Wakaz_]

The whole tragedy of the internet being stolen from us and this video presenting that story really reminds us of how well The Social Network has aged as a film. That ending hits home more and more every single time we watch it, the more the internet becomes theirs and not ours, from the very man who made that all happen...

[@ggk9828]

I would argue the film has agreed very poorly because it glamorizes the theft of the net by privileged douchebags

[@youtubesucks1499]

So make money from the internet. Tons of people do.

[@erNomic]

​@youtubesucks1499 A minute fraction of what they should make. We get crumbs, and only if we don't challenge the narrative. Problem is there will always be boot lickers like you who obediently respect authority, even when they're standing on your neck.

[@plantjunkie69]

Wow, all I have to say is that this was AMAZING!! This was so eye opening and informative, I wish everyone on the internet would watch it! Big companies and the government are literally puppeteers

[@mbindwane]

This is doctoral level research and documentation. Well done.

[@cholst1]

A note on monopolies from Apollonius of Tyana: "The earth is mother of us all, for she is just; but you, because you are unjust have pretended that she is your mother alone; and if you do not stop, I will not permit you to remain upon her."

[@serafiiiine]

One of the most informative, fascinating videos I've seen in a long while. Absolutely brilliant. Thank you for all the effort you put into this.

[@sogesogekingu2961]

Super reportage. All pieces put perfect together, great narrative.

[@nelsongraham108]

as a 36 year old this brought back a lot of good memories. Its documentaries like these that remind me of just how different the internet was back then. I remember spending a lot of my youth using napster and win amp while burning cds for myself and my friends.

[@jojolafrite90]

YES! At LEAST, some people say it! Oh how it feels good to even, know others are seeing too. When I was young, the internet felt like it could change the world for the better, and now: Thank you for saying it on behalf of our species.

[@1Madeleinee]

I never comment but this was one of the best things I have ever watched. Calling it content would be unfair to you and overly complementary to others. Bravo.

[@shehuyakubu3751]

Then don’t start now. I bet you there’s an entire data base of anti establishment commentators…Infact if you understand some of what’s going on then it isn’t far fetched to imagine that videos like this are sponsored by the very same folks! For just that same reason…

[@Obi-Tod-Kenobi]

Feeling the love! Great one Beni!

[@chriseckel9522]

It’s really weird coming across a video about something your old middle school computer science teacher either on . He was incredibly proud of his work.

[@ProfessionalProcrastinator1]

Im just so grateful I stumbled into your channel, I don't only love the amount of documentation and research that you've done but also they way you talk and explain everything. Thank you so much for such amazing work.

[@captainblood9616]

It is a very English style of documentary making and narration similar to those made by the BBC and other English television networks. He does a superb job of it given that he is doing it independently and without the resources of those television networks. I have no doubt that these would be been shown on English television back in the day.

[@crapisnice]

And by help I mean intellectual, not salary slave patron tokens

[@YourCapybaraAmigo_17yrsago]

1999- the internet was still not all that common yet. There is a line in a film of the time where the protagonist says "email?? Email is for geeks and pedophiles! You need to write her a letter!" I'll always remember that lol. Oh the nostalgia of a simpler time lolol.

[@davidmiller9485]

Everyone should read Karl Polanyi's "the great transformation". He wrote back in the 40's during WWII and it was the U.S. government's blueprint for dealing with business. It's also the reason the post war economy lasted as long as it did. Reagan was the one who really killed his idea and replaced them with Ayn Rand economics (i.e.. Trickle down) which we are still dealing with. One of the central tenets of his work is that their is NO such thing as a free market. Their are just to many forces acting on any market for it to ever be free and because those forces are selfish those markets MUST be regulated.

[@renjinjunior5337]

Wow, awesomw work dude! Thanks a lot!

[@MW-me7vn]

On the same topic, I’ve been fascinated in recent times by the postmodern splintering of culture we’re living through, something I’m further researching vocationally. The internet is the grand facilitator of this, KZbin being a great example; the algorithm forces us into niche groups, if not a fully bespoke individual experiences - those who spend many hours a day on KZbin are in a way defined by KZbin in every other aspect of their life, it’s not hyperbole to say our children are being shaped AI, a truly postmodern phenomenon. I gathered from your video that cyberspace is very much capitalist cyberspace, it’d be interesting to know the nature of the link between this splintering of culture and neoliberalism. Another home run from the worlds most underrated channel, thanks for your hard work.

[@xs10tl1]

Each person can be fed a different reality...through curated experiences, curated language, and curated relationships. Both fostered and prevented. Very dangerous.

[@heywtfdotcom]

Further forcing an individualism that is the very antithesis of what evolution selected the human species for. Isolation is considered one the highest forms of torture and is well known to drive people to madness in remarkable duration. Only this form is harder to see as there is the simulation of interaction. That is by the false interaction between online avatars and the superficial interaction with people in the real world. People that in most cases you are not and may never truly be close to in any meaningful way. Our species transforming so rapidly from small packs to mass hive feels to me like attempting to infinitely stretch an elastic material. We are maliable as adaptive creatures but there is most likely a limit, and it seems self destructive to blindly send all of mankind out in search of that cliff.

[@jacksevert3099]

lmao you must very young or not very historically literate if you think splintering cultures is something new. actually compared to decades past and on a global scale the world is less splintered now than ever thanks to the internet.

[@sabrinatscha2554]

That’s not necessarily true. One side welcomes refugees from the other side whilst the other side purges heretics.

[@0069fishy]

Thank you I'm 66y/o and I knew the Internet was started with taxpayer money, but I never understood how it became what it has become? I'm sorry I can't donate at this time but I'm going to send your show to everyone I know in a small way contribute, Thank you again!

[@Spico_]

If you liked this, you should check out the KZbin channel: *Second Thought* Videos: _"How Capitalism Destroyed The Internet"_ and _"Censorship and the Future of the Internet"_ Shorter ~20 minute format, but still very good.

[@americansforhire5378]

@@Spico_ second thought sux

[@kduzick]

Great work! Very thorough and well produced

[@danecustance2734]

Thanks, this is a comprehansive and insghtful historical overview of the development of the internet from the very beginning to the living present we occupy now.

[@ali_p_q7920]

Peter Sunde had it right, "We've lost the Internet."

[@sabrinatscha2554]

I had a buttload of articles relating to the NATO bombing of Belgrade bookmarked and saved to my favorites. Recent developments in Serbia have made me go back to search for them only to find that almost every single one of them has been scrubbed from the Internet. Also tons of articles relating to illegal grow operations in Northern California and articles about bodies being dumped at the southern border (US) Everybody thinks that it is about money. It’s not. They want us to be dumb and malleable

[@jangelbrich7056]

Good to see that not only Adam Curtis can make documentaries like this one - many insights about history tonight, thanks very much!

[@erikjonromnes]

Thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you for all the research! Great job.

[@StarlightxSlasher224]

I thought this was going to be a nice video I could put on while cleaning: no I will in fact be putting it on when I can give undivided attention and can take notes on this fabulous video. Thank you for making this!!!

[@oscarcarter9981]

This video & channel are criminally underrated! So well made and clearly had many countless hours of research, scripting, recording, editing behind it. So good!