It's a bad saying. There are, and have been for a long time, many counter-examples. In case of television, people pay for it and they are "the product" as well

It's a bad saying. There are, and have been for a long time, many counter-examples. In case of television, people pay for it and they are "the product" as well. In case of Free Software, it's free, and the users are not sold at all.