I'm not sure about this - it could also be that the medium simply isn't mature enough yet. I mean look at the international phone network - they somehow managed to get everyone in the same boat - you don't need some special service just because you want to call up Australia. Yes, they don't all have the same standard, but at least they are interoperable.
Similarly, why do we need proprietary standard to charge money for a service? As a consumer I don't care about whether a protocol is open or closed, instead I care about a) what percentage of people here and abroad it can connect me to and b) the reliability of their servers. Making it proprietary is just detrimental to (a) in the long term while gaining the provider some mid term benefits by shutting out competition.
Similarly, why do we need proprietary standard to charge money for a service? As a consumer I don't care about whether a protocol is open or closed, instead I care about a) what percentage of people here and abroad it can connect me to and b) the reliability of their servers. Making it proprietary is just detrimental to (a) in the long term while gaining the provider some mid term benefits by shutting out competition.