[anamax]

> When the government set up and fostered the development of the Internet, was it picking winners and losers then, too?

The total expenditures then were a small fraction of what we're spending now.

Do you really think that the ROI today is as high as it was then?

Do you really think "govt spent money well once" implies "govt money spent now is well spent"? (It's also false that "govt money was spent badly in the past" implies "govt money spent now is badly spent".)