I believe it has something to do with everybody wanting to get $$$ for something they perceive as being made "Free" to the public. For instance, your ISP would dictate to you whether you get to go to Google or to Yahoo. If Google doesn't sign on their dotted line, well, you get Yahoo. Or you would have to pay extra for things that really, should be made available, like library information. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
What's annoying to me is, we already a)pay for the service to get access to this, and many times, a certain amount of download information, a b)the people we pay, already paid to have all the infrastructure installed! It's not "free!" (Unless you truly visit the city library.)