It was never going to be free forever, because that would be leaving free money on the table, which is unacceptable to any evil megacorp (which is to say, all of the big three). I imagine PSN initially being free was mostly a result of trying to bridge the gap between PS3 and 360 sales, given the multi-year delay and huge price difference.
The biggest threat to gaming is Gabe Newell's eventual death. I really hope he figures out the whole brain connected interface thing so he can upload himself to the internet and become immortal.
They don't have a monopoly. They don't even have a natural monopoly like they did when it first launched and was the only digital store front for games.
Instead of trying to make the one good service shitty, how about the shitty services step up their game and stop being shitty?
I remember hearing it was originally gonna be paid, but Sony messed something up in their servers that made people angry and were forced to keep it free.