What you describe is already the world we live in. The comforts of digital feudalism vs. the freedom (and danger) of being a techno-ronin is gradually convergin

What you describe is already the world we live in. The comforts of digital feudalism vs. the freedom (and danger) of being a techno-ronin is gradually converging towards a serious civil rights issue. In a different political climate, anti-trust legislation would be warranted (Apple deserves it more than Microsoft ever did), but these days, lobbyists have regulatory capture down to an exact science. The open source crowd (and I don't mean Google; they merely shift their evil server-side) needs to continue competing with with the fiefdoms on user experience, because that's what's going to sway real users and influence the market, not lofty ambitions about freedom.