This is a super grey area. As I'm sure most people are aware, most technology innovation is evolution, not revolution. The smartphone doesn't exist today withou

This is a super grey area. As I'm sure most people are aware, most technology innovation is evolution, not revolution. The smartphone doesn't exist today without the desktop computer and failed attempts by Palm. The reality is as follows: - ARPANET is considered the earliest form of the internet, which was developed by DARPA (paid by taxpayers) - Many patents for internet based technologies are held (or were held) by universities which were paid for by taxpayers - The first proposal of hypertext by Tim Berners-Lee was done in his capacity as a contractor to CERN, which is a multi-government-backed entity The question, that will be debated for centuries, is who has profited from all of this? Just think of your laptop for a second. There are probably a million different functions, services, applications, etc. all playing together harmoniously. It's the purest form of amalgamated advances in both government backed projects, FOSS, and for-profit entities all dancing together harmoniously. Many people would argue the ones who sell the final good are creating the most value, because they are essentially responsible for bringing all of those disparate parts together, and hence why they would argue they deserve most of economic profit.