[ziftface]

The same way libraries are free: they're actually paid for by taxpayers.

If the internet was invented in America's earlier days, a lot of these information tools would be a public service, similar to libraries, and we'd all be better for it.

[krapp]

You're under the mistaken impression that Americans like their taxes to go towards public services. Many public libraries are underfunded, and what funding they get is sometimes wrapped up in censorship laws serving an increasingly hostile and paranoid constitutency. "Public service" is synonymous with "government controlled service."

Google would be no different. Forget any "innovation" any of Google's satellite projects may have had, they simply wouldn't exist, too expensive. The service would be stripped down to a bare bones minimum of functionality and farmed out to lowest-bid contractors to save money. The CIA, NSA and law enforcement would have backdoors everywhere (so no difference there), "controversial" sites would be delisted or fined (because broadcast decency laws would probably apply, and the taxpayers would insist any indecency be removed) and the whole thing would wind up privatized by the Republicans anyway, so it would still run ads at the end.

[ziftface]

I hadn't thought of it that way, you're making some good points.

[scarface_74]

You have seen how governments have censored and banned books that went against their political or religious leanings?

You don’t think that they would do the same thing for search engines?