Even if it was a "network connection" issue creating an overlay network on top of the Internet (with VPN tunnels and mesh routing, for example) would yield wildly better bandwidth and latency characteristics.

You can still make that overlay network geofenced and vetted. Heck, running it over a local ISP's last mile would probably yield wonderful latency.

We need vetted webrings on the existing Internet, not a new Internet.

Reading this back and forth so far I think you’re spot on… which leads to this open question, wheres the consolidated stack that makes this accessible?

Also I think the name vetted webrings or just the vetted web is simple enough to be a movement.

As in the vetted web movement.

… gotta start somewhere.