"The internet is primarily funded by the collection, analysis, and trade of data-the data economy."

s/internet/www/

The internet is a medium. Interconnected ASNs. Cables, switches, routers, etc. It's hardware.

Whereas the above statement -- which sounds very much like a media-ready soundbite from another author, Shoshana Zuboff -- presumes that a medium is synonymous with whatever it is used for, e.g., a www filled with "content" created as bait in order to lure consumers whereupon "content providers" can then surveil, collect data, process and commercialise it.

If the internet, the medium over which our bits travel, is funded by collection, analysis and trade of data, then why are we paying ISPs? Who is paying the costs of sending all this data to those who will analyze and commercialise it. Consumers are funding those transfer costs.