Well ZZ, once again you try to push
your crap when you do not know of
what you speak.
Private-line Services existed before
the Internet. AT&T built circuits for
the government and many large companies.
Each circuit was only tied to the customers
locations. No one circuit was tied to
any other circuit. To send or receive
data on the circuit, you had to be connected,
ie using a computer that was connected.
Some of the geniuses at the top of AT&T
decided they could make more money by
moving those circuits to the Internet.