Few had the Dreamcast, fewer had the online network, )and if you fit into that tiny niche,) even fewer kept the internet service.

I fit into all those catagories. I had a Dreamcast. I paid to play Phantasy Star Online, and I did so for about 2 months then figured the price wasn't worth it. (And Phantasy Star Online was free to play unlike other MMO's so in a way you paid atound the same price as someone who has say a PS4 and a pay to play MMO.)

And as forus were hardly a thing back then i bet there wasn't even a shitstorm about europe having it free

Did you even owned a Dreamcast? I think if you would check internet and have had experience for yourself with the different consoles you would agree the Dreamcast was the best consoler for that time. (came out here in Europe October 1999 and PS2 came out in November 2000). when PS2 and Xbox came out the capabilities for those consoles was better as the hardware was better but in terms of games and gameplay etc I was much more satisfied by the Dreamcast as the hypes of the PS2 and Xbox where so big those two were a big dissapointment for me! It took very long to finally have some good games on the PS2 and Xbox.

'closing eyes and thinks back to the days, when playing 24/7 powerstone' those were the days!

There was a outcry, but nobody heard it because the shitstorm had not been invented and people still used the internet responsibly

It was probably the other way around. People be saying "wow, Europe gets it for free, how cool!".

Shitstorms are something from our post-modern society, regrettably. Though it always provides amusement, I must say. :P

I cried. And I bet many others did. But It was a completely different world back then. We are talking pre-Windows XP era. The internet wan't the same thing back then. I don't even remember cellphones being a thing then. Not that many venues to voice your complains.

The service, if I remember correct was a full ISP experience were you could use it as regular internet in addition to playing games on it. It was to provide a "cheap" connection that was tailored for games but could be used for other things, but the hook was the optimised gaming.

Here is the wikipedia article which basically says the same thing.

SegaNet became a short-lived internet service geared for dial-up based online gaming on the Dreamcast game console. A replacement for Sega's original, PC-only online gaming service, Heat.net, it was initially quite popular when launched on September 10, 2000. Unlike a standard ISP, game servers would be connected directly into SegaNet's internal network, providing very low connection latency between the consoles and servers along with standard Internet access.^{[citation needed]}

Online games on the Dreamcast initially allowed free access to their game servers, to be offset by SegaNet subscriptions and game sales. But with the demise of SegaNet, most games shut their servers down while Phantasy Star Online version 2 charged a monthly fee,^[2][3] but was closed for the last time at the end of the year. There are some private servers still online that can be played with the following games: 4x4 Evolution, Maximum Pool, Phantasy Star Online, Quake III Arena, Sega Swirl (Using play by e-mail), and Starlancer.^{[citation needed]}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SegaNet

The price Sega charged for the service was within the average price range of an ISP at the time, that is why there was no outcry. Unfortuntly at the time most people had their own service for going on the internet and the better latancy wasn't that much of draw to get the service.

There was no "outcry" because the internet back then wasn't crowded with plug'n'play users and negative articles all over the place :)
It was mostly nerds being online but they at least valued the tech.

Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid 2 were some of the best games ever made and they came less than year after the PS2 came out in the West. Shadow of memories had one of the best storylines in gaming and it came out even ealier.

And tekken tag tourament? The PS2 had great games to play and worth waiting for

You're right, the DC didnt have all of that fluff. It just had the huge selection of awesome games, including what was at the time by far the best launch ever.

Never seen such a large and steady flow of great games in such a short span.