> it has nothing to do with public utilities. This doesn't follow from the linked article. Taxes can be levied in various ways, oftentimes related to usage. In

> it has nothing to do with public utilities. This doesn't follow from the linked article. Taxes can be levied in various ways, oftentimes related to usage. Involving a private entity doesn't suddenly change the nature of the thing. There's a marked difference between a sack of flour and my electric meter. We as a society decide to make certain things into public goods. This is frequently the choice for natural monopolies. Critiquing the article you linked - when taken literally non-rivalrous applies to approximately nothing. Non-excludability is simply a matter of law, which is a matter of what the voting public wants.