I can see how you would takeaway that perspective, but App.net never guaranteed what you laid out. It was proprietary just like Twitter. If App.net ever got mainstream traction, we have no idea if they would have held to those principles, and history tells they would not have. The free, open, federated network's time has still not come. Most people are still coming to grips with the existence of these social networks; they have not yet jumped to the conclusion that makes App.net make sense. I believe it will happen.