Dwayne, I also urge you to address the other criticisms (not all of which were technical) in my post. For e.g., the idea that open copyright free development is what led to the success of the Internet (his claim, as I read it, broadly), and my criticism that that was just one element, the others being govt and other support, a fairly small technical community that could subvert democratic processes, etc.
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Unfortunately (on so many levels) I'm swamped with work and can't offer a fuller response.
In short: I certainly agree with your statement here. Internet super-boosters who bemoan the present and hail the past do have a tendency to downplay the very significant role of starting factors such as government intervention (as I recall, the ARPANET project was primarily conceived of as a way to create a fail safe, i.e. battle damage resistant communication system -- a military concern).
This is no doubt a result of the legacy -- and continuing influence -- of libertarian ideas in tech circles.
So Boyle does miss a lot.
Even so, I think there's some value in his assertion that capital (which he refers to as 'corporations' or, even more vaguely, "lawyers") is now alert to the possibility -- because of the Internet example -- of destabilizing technologies and, in sharper quarters, seeking methods to perform early intercepts to preserve command and control (the impetus behind legislation such as DMCA).
.d.