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For what it's worth, here's my worry about this: - Micro-fees for the web are a good idea. Because "If you don't pay you are the product", etc. - BUT, they HAVE to be micro-fees. Because of the fact that, EVERYONE uses the internet now. Literally almost all of humanity. To charge 30$ per Month (like ChatGPT does) for such a basic service, would bring an Incomprehensible amount of money in the hands of a few providers, which would make them even more dominant than they already are, I'm afraid. Technologically, we have now 0 problems to implement a solid micro-fee system. - "But"- you say- "The point of making people pay is to bring back competition, right? If a lot of people pay, more companies will compete to offer the same services and prices will go down". Well, I don't know about this. To me, it seems like the Internet is Intrinsically a monopolistic affair... VEry few companies have the know-how and resources to operate at Google Scale. Networks effects are a thing too (think reviews on Google Maps, etc), and so on... So I think, in the end, like many of the other basic utilities, prices will have to be controlled by regulation... |
It's worth pointing out that facebook makes on average $16 per month per US user, simply by selling ads to show them. And it makes $3 per month per global user.