I see what he's saying, and he makes some good points.
But I think he's too pessimistic. There are still some bright spots of open protocols on the Internet, even if they're now predominantly used through web browsers and/or HTTP.
I'll name two that are more recent than the last RFC referenced in the article, from 2009:
JMAP - the JSON Mail Access Protocol, here to save us from the dark ages of IMAP. http://jmap.io/
WebRTC - cross-browser, cross-platform voice and video chat without being locked in to a single provider like Skype. http://www.webrtc.org/
But I think he's too pessimistic. There are still some bright spots of open protocols on the Internet, even if they're now predominantly used through web browsers and/or HTTP.
I'll name two that are more recent than the last RFC referenced in the article, from 2009:
JMAP - the JSON Mail Access Protocol, here to save us from the dark ages of IMAP. http://jmap.io/
WebRTC - cross-browser, cross-platform voice and video chat without being locked in to a single provider like Skype. http://www.webrtc.org/