In Chapaign-Urbana area here we have a freenet called Prairienet for the community. It has received popular support and we really enjoy it and need it. Good luck with your plan to set up one in your community. Ask anybody in an eastern block country or India what the programming was like when only the government sponsered radio and television. If nobody is listening, then nobody will be giving them any money.
Somebody has to pay for it.
The thing about the Internet that is different is that I can put out something on the net to be available to anybody who can find it without spending millions of dollars on broadcast access. Talking about corporate involvement is total useless. If you don't want to look at what they put on the net, don't access it. There really cannot be any sort of sensoring of material that is transmitted on the net. A simple example is the phone system.