But would we ever have actually had the Internet before DARPA? It took over 30 years before the Internet actually became a mainstream and profitable thing. If the net had been developed by private companies then they would have done it in such a way that would have let them become profitable within a year or two, so it's unlikely that the net would be anything like what it is today. And for all it's flaws, it's hard to imagine it being better if it were developed by private industry.