Comment by oblio

Realistically, how could it have worked otherwise?

The internet was just ignored for a long time because it was at first a) too small and then b) too beneficial with the current architecture to try to tame.

However we're in stage c) it's too big and too dangerous for countries so it needs to be placed back in the country box.

Kind of like the history of oil, which was at first a) about individuals (Rockefeller), then about b) companies (Standard Oil), and finally, about c) countries (most big oil companies are either fully state owned or so tied at the hip with the government that they're basically state owned).

It's complicated, but ultimately, utopia doesn't exist. Most people don't really want open borders (and those that do, haven't fully thought things through), and countries in our current configuration, are still a good thing in most places. So yeah, we were always bound to reach some sort of "national internet" stage.