:Internet#Technology

{{Further|Capitalization of Internet|internetworking}}

The word internetted was used as early as 1849, meaning interconnected or interwoven.{{OED|Internetted}} nineteenth-century use as an adjective. The word Internet was used in 1945 by the United States War Department in a radio operator's manual,{{cite web |title=United States Army Field Manual FM 24-6 Radio Operator's Manual Army Ground Forces June 1945 |date=18 September 2023 |url=https://archive.org/details/Fm24-6/mode/2up |publisher=United States War Department }} and in 1974 as the shorthand form of Internetwork. Today, the term Internet most commonly refers to the global system of interconnected computer networks, though it may also refer to any group of smaller networks.

When it came into common use, most publications treated the word Internet as a capitalized proper noun; this has become less common. This reflects the tendency in English to capitalize new terms and move them to lowercase as they become familiar. The word is sometimes still capitalized to distinguish the global internet from smaller networks, though many publications, including the AP Stylebook since 2016, recommend the lowercase form in every case.{{Cite news|last=Corbett|first=Philip B.|date=1 June 2016|title=It's Official: The 'Internet' Is Over|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/02/insider/now-it-is-official-the-internet-is-over.html|access-date=29 August 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=14 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014142148/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/02/insider/now-it-is-official-the-internet-is-over.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Herring|first=Susan C.|date=19 October 2015|title=Should You Be Capitalizing the Word 'Internet'?|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/2015/10/should-you-be-capitalizing-the-word-internet/|access-date=29 August 2020|issn=1059-1028|archive-date=31 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031024342/https://www.wired.com/2015/10/should-you-be-capitalizing-the-word-internet/|url-status=live}} In 2016, the Oxford English Dictionary found that, based on a study of around 2.5 billion printed and online sources, "Internet" was capitalized in 54% of cases.{{Cite web|last=Coren|first=Michael J.|title=One of the internet's inventors thinks it should still be capitalized|url=https://qz.com/698175/one-of-the-internets-inventors-thinks-it-should-still-be-capitalized/|access-date=8 September 2020|website=Quartz|date=2 June 2016 |language=en|archive-date=27 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927102759/https://qz.com/698175/one-of-the-internets-inventors-thinks-it-should-still-be-capitalized/|url-status=live}}

The terms Internet and World Wide Web are often used interchangeably; it is common to speak of "going on the Internet" when using a web browser to view web pages. However, the World Wide Web, or the Web, is only one of a large number of Internet services,{{cite web|date=11 March 2014|title=World Wide Web Timeline|url=http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/03/11/world-wide-web-timeline/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729162322/http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/03/11/world-wide-web-timeline/|archive-date=29 July 2015|access-date=1 August 2015|publisher=Pews Research Center}} a collection of documents (web pages) and other web resources linked by hyperlinks and URLs.{{cite web|title=HTML 4.01 Specification|url=http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/links.html#h-12.1|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006131915/http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/links.html|archive-date=6 October 2008|access-date=13 August 2008|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|quote=[T]he link (or hyperlink, or Web link) [is] the basic hypertext construct. A link is a connection from one Web resource to another. Although a simple concept, the link has been one of the primary forces driving the success of the Web.}}

{{Main|History of the Internet |History of the World Wide Web|Protocol Wars}}

File:A sketch of the ARPANET in December 1969.png

In the 1960s, computer scientists began developing systems for time-sharing of computer resources.{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=J.A.N. |last2=Rosin |first2=Robert F |date=1992 |title=Time-Sharing at MIT |url=https://archive.org/details/time-sharing-at-mit |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |volume=14 |issue=1 |page=16 |doi=10.1109/85.145316 |s2cid=30976386 |access-date=October 3, 2022|issn=1058-6180 }}F. J. Corbató, et al., [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/ctss/CTSS_ProgrammersGuide.pdf The Compatible Time-Sharing System A Programmer's Guide] (MIT Press, 1963) {{ISBN|978-0-262-03008-3}}. "To establish the context of the present work, it is informative to trace the development of time-sharing at MIT. Shortly after the first paper on time-shared computers by C. Strachey at the June 1959 UNESCO Information Processing conference, H.M. Teager and J. McCarthy delivered an unpublished paper "Time-Shared Program Testing" at the August 1959 ACM Meeting." J. C. R. Licklider proposed the idea of a universal network while working at Bolt Beranek & Newman and, later, leading the Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) at the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). Research into packet switching, one of the fundamental Internet technologies, started in the work of Paul Baran at RAND in the early 1960s and, independently, Donald Davies at the United Kingdom's National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in 1965.{{cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=316|title=Inductee Details – Paul Baran|publisher=National Inventors Hall of Fame|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906091231/http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=316|archive-date=6 September 2017|access-date=6 September 2017|postscript=none}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=328|title=Inductee Details – Donald Watts Davies|publisher=National Inventors Hall of Fame|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906091936/http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=328|archive-date=6 September 2017|access-date=6 September 2017}} After the Symposium on Operating Systems Principles in 1967, packet switching from the proposed NPL network and routing concepts proposed by Baran were incorporated into the design of the ARPANET, an experimental resource sharing network proposed by ARPA.{{Cite book |last1=Hauben |first1=Michael |url=http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/book-pdf/CHAPTER%205.pdf |title=Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet |last2=Hauben |first2=Ronda |date=1997 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-8186-7706-9 |language=en |chapter=5 The Vision of Interactive Computing And the Future |access-date=2 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103184558/http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/book-pdf/CHAPTER%205.pdf |archive-date=3 January 2021 |url-status=live}}{{Cite book |last1=Zelnick |first1=Bob |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q10phY811tUC&pg=PA66 |title=The Illusion of Net Neutrality: Political Alarmism, Regulatory Creep and the Real Threat to Internet Freedom |last2=Zelnick |first2=Eva |publisher=Hoover Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-8179-1596-4 |language=en |access-date=7 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110133435/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q10phY811tUC&pg=PA66 |archive-date=10 January 2021 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=Peter |first=Ian |year=2004 |title=So, who really did invent the Internet? |url=http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/origins.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903001108/http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/origins.html |archive-date=3 September 2011 |access-date=27 June 2014 |website=The Internet History Project}}

ARPANET development began with two network nodes which were interconnected between the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International) on 29 October 1969.{{cite web|url=http://www.netvalley.com/intval.html|title=Roads and Crossroads of Internet History|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127082435/http://www.netvalley.com/intval.html|archive-date=27 January 2016|first=Gregory|last=Gromov|year=1995}} The third site was at the University of California, Santa Barbara, followed by the University of Utah. In a sign of future growth, 15 sites were connected to the young ARPANET by the end of 1971.{{cite book | author-link = Katie Hafner | last = Hafner | first = Katie | title = Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet | publisher = Simon & Schuster | year = 1998 | isbn = 978-0-684-83267-8 }}{{cite web|author=Hauben, Ronda |title=From the ARPANET to the Internet |year=2001 |url=http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/other/tcpdigest_paper.txt |access-date=28 May 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721093920/http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/other/tcpdigest_paper.txt |archive-date=21 July 2009 }} These early years were documented in the 1972 film Computer Networks: The Heralds of Resource Sharing.{{Cite web|title=Internet Pioneers Discuss the Future of Money, Books, and Paper in 1972|url=https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/internet-pioneers-discuss-the-future-of-money-books-a-880551175|access-date=31 August 2020|website=Paleofuture|date=23 July 2013 |language=en-us|archive-date=17 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017141323/https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/internet-pioneers-discuss-the-future-of-money-books-a-880551175|url-status=live}} Thereafter, the ARPANET gradually developed into a decentralized communications network, connecting remote centers and military bases in the United States.{{Cite journal |last=Townsend |first=Anthony |date=2001 |title=The Internet and the Rise of the New Network Cities, 1969–1999 |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/b2688 |journal=Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design |language=en |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=39–58 |doi=10.1068/b2688 |bibcode=2001EnPlB..28...39T |issn=0265-8135 |s2cid=11574572}} Other user networks and research networks, such as the Merit Network and CYCLADES, were developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s.{{cite book |last1=Kim |first1=Byung-Keun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lESrw3neDokC |title=Internationalising the Internet the Co-evolution of Influence and Technology |date=2005 |publisher=Edward Elgar |isbn=978-1-84542-675-0 |pages=51–55}}

Early international collaborations for the ARPANET were rare. Connections were made in 1973 to Norway (NORSAR and NDRE),{{cite web |title=NORSAR and the Internet |url=http://www.norsar.no/norsar/about-us/History/Internet/ |publisher=NORSAR |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121220318/http://www.norsar.no/norsar/about-us/History/Internet/ |archive-date=21 January 2013 }} and to Peter Kirstein's research group at University College London (UCL), which provided a gateway to British academic networks, forming the first internetwork for resource sharing.{{Cite journal|last=Kirstein|first=P.T.|date=1999|title=Early experiences with the Arpanet and Internet in the United Kingdom|url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4773/f19792f9fce8eacba72e5f8c2a021414e52d.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207092443/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4773/f19792f9fce8eacba72e5f8c2a021414e52d.pdf|archive-date=2020-02-07|journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing|volume=21|issue=1|pages=38–44|doi=10.1109/85.759368|s2cid=1558618|issn=1934-1547}} ARPA projects, the International Network Working Group and commercial initiatives led to the development of various protocols and standards by which multiple separate networks could become a single network or "a network of networks".{{cite web|url=http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/what-internet/history-internet/brief-history-internet#concepts|title=Brief History of the Internet: The Initial Internetting Concepts|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409105511/http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/what-internet/history-internet/brief-history-internet|archive-date=9 April 2016|first=Barry M.|last=Leiner|website=Internet Society|access-date=27 June 2014}} In 1974, Vint Cerf at Stanford University and Bob Kahn at DARPA published a proposal for "A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication".{{Cite journal |last1=Cerf |first1=V. |last2=Kahn |first2=R. |date=1974 |title=A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication |url=https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/fall06/cos561/papers/cerf74.pdf |journal=IEEE Transactions on Communications |volume=22 |issue=5 |pages=637–648 |doi=10.1109/TCOM.1974.1092259 |issn=1558-0857 |quote=The authors wish to thank a number of colleagues for helpful comments during early discussions of international network protocols, especially R. Metcalfe, R. Scantlebury, D. Walden, and H. Zimmerman; D. Davies and L. Pouzin who constructively commented on the fragmentation and accounting issues; and S. Crocker who commented on the creation and destruction of associations. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060913213037/https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/fall06/cos561/papers/cerf74.pdf |archive-date=13 September 2006 |url-status=live }} Cerf and his students used the term internet as a shorthand for internetwork in {{IETF RFC|675}},{{cite IETF |title=Specification of Internet Transmission Control Protocol|rfc=675|last1=Cerf|first1=Vint|last2=Dalal|first2=Yogen|first3=Carl|last3=Sunshine |date=December 1974|publisher=IETF}} and later RFCs repeated this use. Cerf and Kahn credit Louis Pouzin and others with important influences on the resulting TCP/IP design.{{Cite IETF |title=Final Report of the Standford University TCP Project |ien=151 |last1=Cerf |first1=Vint |date=1 April 1980 |url-status=live |publisher=IETF}}{{Cite news|date=30 November 2013|title=The internet's fifth man|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21590765-louis-pouzin-helped-create-internet-now-he-campaigning-ensure-its|access-date=22 April 2020|issn=0013-0613|quote=In the early 1970s Mr Pouzin created an innovative data network that linked locations in France, Italy and Britain. Its simplicity and efficiency pointed the way to a network that could connect not just dozens of machines, but millions of them. It captured the imagination of Dr Cerf and Dr Kahn, who included aspects of its design in the protocols that now power the internet.|archive-date=19 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419230318/https://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21590765-louis-pouzin-helped-create-internet-now-he-campaigning-ensure-its|url-status=live}} National PTTs and commercial providers developed the X.25 standard and deployed it on public data networks.{{cite book|last=Schatt|first=Stan|title=Linking LANs: A Micro Manager's Guide|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=1991|isbn=0-8306-3755-9|page=200}}

Access to the ARPANET was expanded in 1981 when the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the Computer Science Network (CSNET). In 1982, the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) was standardized, which facilitated worldwide proliferation of interconnected networks. TCP/IP network access expanded again in 1986 when the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNet) provided access to supercomputer sites in the United States for researchers, first at speeds of 56 kbit/s and later at 1.5 Mbit/s and 45 Mbit/s.{{cite web|url=http://www.merit.edu/about/history/pdf/NSFNET_final.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210181738/http://www.merit.edu/about/history/pdf/NSFNET_final.pdf|archive-date=2015-02-10|title=NSFNET: A Partnership for High-Speed Networking, Final Report 1987–1995|first=Karen D.|last=Frazer|website=Merit Network, Inc.|year=1995}} The NSFNet expanded into academic and research organizations in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan in 1988–89.{{cite web |author=Ben Segal |author-link=Ben Segal (computer scientist) |year=1995 |title=A Short History of Internet Protocols at CERN |url=http://www.cern.ch/ben/TCPHIST.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608153730/http://ben.web.cern.ch/ben/TCPHIST.html |archive-date=8 June 2023 |access-date=14 October 2011}}Réseaux IP Européens (RIPE){{cite web|url=http://www.apan.net/meetings/busan03/cs-history.htm|title=Internet History in Asia|work=16th APAN Meetings/Advanced Network Conference in Busan|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060201035514/http://apan.net/meetings/busan03/cs-history.htm|archive-date=1 February 2006|access-date=25 December 2005}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.nordu.net/history/TheHistoryOfNordunet_simple.pdf|title=The History of NORDUnet|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031416/http://www.nordu.net/history/TheHistoryOfNordunet_simple.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016}} Although other network protocols such as UUCP and PTT public data networks had global reach well before this time, this marked the beginning of the Internet as an intercontinental network. Commercial Internet service providers (ISPs) emerged in 1989 in the United States and Australia.{{cite web|url=http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/OzI04.html#CIAP|title=Origins and Nature of the Internet in Australia|last=Clarke|first=Roger|access-date=21 January 2014|archive-date=9 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209201253/http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/OzI04.html#CIAP|url-status=live}} The ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990.{{cite IETF |rfc=2235 |page=8 |last=Zakon |first=Robert |date=November 1997 |publisher=IETF |access-date=2 December 2020}}

File:NSFNET-backbone-T3.png Backbone, {{Circa|1992}}]]

Steady advances in semiconductor technology and optical networking created new economic opportunities for commercial involvement in the expansion of the network in its core and for delivering services to the public. In mid-1989, MCI Mail and Compuserve established connections to the Internet, delivering email and public access products to the half million users of the Internet.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wDAEAAAAMBAJ&q=compuserve%20to%20mci%20mail%20internet&pg=PT31 |title=InfoWorld|date=25 September 1989 |via=Google Books |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129225422/https://books.google.com/books?id=wDAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT31&lpg=PT31&dq=compuserve%20to%20mci%20mail%20internet |archive-date=29 January 2017 }} Just months later, on 1 January 1990, PSInet launched an alternate Internet backbone for commercial use; one of the networks that added to the core of the commercial Internet of later years. In March 1990, the first high-speed T1 (1.5 Mbit/s) link between the NSFNET and Europe was installed between Cornell University and CERN, allowing much more robust communications than were capable with satellites.{{Cite web|date=February 1990|title=INTERNET MONTHLY REPORTS|url=http://ftp.cuhk.edu.hk/pub/doc/internet/Internet.Monthly.Report/imr9002.txt|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170525080041/ftp://ftp.cuhk.edu.hk/pub/doc/internet/Internet.Monthly.Report/imr9002.txt|archive-date=25 May 2017|access-date=28 November 2020}}

Later in 1990, Tim Berners-Lee began writing WorldWideWeb, the first web browser, after two years of lobbying CERN management. By Christmas 1990, Berners-Lee had built all the tools necessary for a working Web: the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 0.9,{{cite web|url=http://www.w3.org/Protocols/HTTP/AsImplemented.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970605071155/http://www.w3.org/Protocols/HTTP/AsImplemented.html |archive-date=5 June 1997 |first=Tim |last=Berners-Lee |title=The Original HTTP as defined in 1991 |work=W3C.org}} the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), the first Web browser (which was also an HTML editor and could access Usenet newsgroups and FTP files), the first HTTP server software (later known as CERN httpd), the first web server,{{Cite web|url=http://info.cern.ch/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105103513/http://info.cern.ch/|title=The website of the world's first-ever web server|archive-date=5 January 2010|website=info.cern.ch}} and the first Web pages that described the project itself. In 1991 the Commercial Internet eXchange was founded, allowing PSInet to communicate with the other commercial networks CERFnet and Alternet. Stanford Federal Credit Union was the first financial institution to offer online Internet banking services to all of its members in October 1994.{{cite press release|title=Stanford Federal Credit Union Pioneers Online Financial Services.|date=21 June 1995|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Stanford+Federal+Credit+Union+Pioneers+Online+Financial+Services.-a017104850|access-date=21 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221041632/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Stanford+Federal+Credit+Union+Pioneers+Online+Financial+Services.-a017104850|archive-date=21 December 2018|url-status=live}} In 1996, OP Financial Group, also a cooperative bank, became the second online bank in the world and the first in Europe.{{cite web | url=https://www.op.fi/op-financial-group/about-us/op-financial-group-in-brief/history | title=History – About us – OP Group | access-date=21 December 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221041413/https://www.op.fi/op-financial-group/about-us/op-financial-group-in-brief/history | archive-date=21 December 2018 | url-status=live }} By 1995, the Internet was fully commercialized in the U.S. when the NSFNet was decommissioned, removing the last restrictions on use of the Internet to carry commercial traffic.{{cite journal |url=http://www.merit.edu/research/nsfnet_article.php |title=Retiring the NSFNET Backbone Service: Chronicling the End of an Era |first1=Susan R. |last1=Harris |first2=Elise |last2=Gerich |journal=ConneXions |volume=10 |number=4 |date=April 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817124939/http://merit.edu/research/nsfnet_article.php |archive-date=17 August 2013 }}

{{Worldwide Internet users}}

As technology advanced and commercial opportunities fueled reciprocal growth, the volume of Internet traffic started experiencing similar characteristics as that of the scaling of MOS transistors, exemplified by Moore's law, doubling every 18 months. This growth, formalized as Edholm's law, was catalyzed by advances in MOS technology, laser light wave systems, and noise performance.{{cite book |last1=Jindal |first1=R. P. |title=2009 2nd International Workshop on Electron Devices and Semiconductor Technology |chapter=From millibits to terabits per second and beyond - over 60 years of innovation |s2cid=25112828 |year=2009 |volume=49 |pages=1–6 |doi=10.1109/EDST.2009.5166093 |chapter-url=https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/195547 |isbn=978-1-4244-3831-0 |access-date=24 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823230141/https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/195547 |archive-date=23 August 2019 }}

Since 1995, the Internet has tremendously impacted culture and commerce, including the rise of near-instant communication by email, instant messaging, telephony (Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP), two-way interactive video calls, and the World Wide Web{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5242252.stm|title=How the web went world wide|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121092636/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5242252.stm |archive-date=21 November 2011|first=Mark|last=Ward|website=Technology Correspondent|date=3 August 2006|publisher=BBC News|access-date=24 January 2011}} with its discussion forums, blogs, social networking services, and online shopping sites. Increasing amounts of data are transmitted at higher and higher speeds over fiber optic networks operating at 1 Gbit/s, 10 Gbit/s, or more. The Internet continues to grow, driven by ever-greater amounts of online information and knowledge, commerce, entertainment and social networking services.{{cite web|url=http://clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3626274 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004000237/http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3626274|title=Brazil, Russia, India and China to Lead Internet Growth Through 2011 |publisher=Clickz.com |access-date=28 May 2009|archive-date=4 October 2008}} During the late 1990s, it was estimated that traffic on the public Internet grew by 100 percent per year, while the mean annual growth in the number of Internet users was thought to be between 20% and 50%.{{cite web |url=http://www.dtc.umn.edu/~odlyzko/doc/internet.size.pdf |title=The size and growth rate of the Internet |access-date=21 May 2007 |author1=Coffman, K.G |author2=Odlyzko, A.M. |author-link2=Andrew Odlyzko |publisher=AT&T Labs |date=2 October 1998 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614012344/http://www.dtc.umn.edu/~odlyzko/doc/internet.size.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2007 }} This growth is often attributed to the lack of central administration, which allows organic growth of the network, as well as the non-proprietary nature of the Internet protocols, which encourages vendor interoperability and prevents any one company from exerting too much control over the network.{{cite book | last = Comer | first = Douglas | title = The Internet book | publisher = Prentice Hall | page = [https://archive.org/details/internetbookever00come_0/page/64 64] | isbn = 978-0-13-233553-9 | year = 2006 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/internetbookever00come_0/page/64 }} {{as of|2011|March|31}}, the estimated total number of Internet users was 2.095 billion (30% of world population).{{cite web|url=http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm|title=World Internet Users and Population Stats|date=22 June 2011|work=Internet World Stats|publisher=Miniwatts Marketing Group|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623200007/http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm|archive-date=23 June 2011|access-date=23 June 2011}} It is estimated that in 1993 the Internet carried only 1% of the information flowing through two-way telecommunication. By 2000 this figure had grown to 51%, and by 2007 more than 97% of all telecommunicated information was carried over the Internet.{{cite journal|title=The World's Technological Capacity to Store, Communicate, and Compute Information |first1=Martin |last1=Hilbert |first2=Priscila |last2=López |s2cid=206531385 |date=April 2011 |journal=Science |volume=332 |pages=60–65 |doi=10.1126/science.1200970 |issue=6025 |bibcode=2011Sci...332...60H |pmid=21310967 |doi-access=free }}

{{Main|Internet governance}}

File:Icannheadquartersplayavista.jpg neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States]]

The Internet is a global network that comprises many voluntarily interconnected autonomous networks. It operates without a central governing body. The technical underpinning and standardization of the core protocols (IPv4 and IPv6) is an activity of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), a non-profit organization of loosely affiliated international participants that anyone may associate with by contributing technical expertise. To maintain interoperability, the principal name spaces of the Internet are administered by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ICANN is governed by an international board of directors drawn from across the Internet technical, business, academic, and other non-commercial communities. ICANN coordinates the assignment of unique identifiers for use on the Internet, including domain names, IP addresses, application port numbers in the transport protocols, and many other parameters. Globally unified name spaces are essential for maintaining the global reach of the Internet. This role of ICANN distinguishes it as perhaps the only central coordinating body for the global Internet.{{cite web|last=Klein|first=Hans|year=2004|url=http://www.ip3.gatech.edu/research/KLEIN_ICANN%2BSovereignty.doc|title=ICANN and Non-Territorial Sovereignty: Government Without the Nation State|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524035251/http://www.ip3.gatech.edu/research/KLEIN_ICANN%2BSovereignty.doc|archive-date=24 May 2013|website=Internet and Public Policy Project|publisher=Georgia Institute of Technology}}

Regional Internet registries (RIRs) were established for five regions of the world. The African Network Information Center (AfriNIC) for Africa, the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) for North America, the Asia–Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) for Asia and the Pacific region, the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC) for Latin America and the Caribbean region, and the Réseaux IP Européens – Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) for Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia were delegated to assign IP address blocks and other Internet parameters to local registries, such as Internet service providers, from a designated pool of addresses set aside for each region.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, an agency of the United States Department of Commerce, had final approval over changes to the DNS root zone until the IANA stewardship transition on 1 October 2016.{{cite book |last= Packard |first= Ashley |title= Digital Media Law |publisher= Wiley-Blackwell |year= 2010 |isbn= 978-1-4051-8169-3 |page= 65}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/01/bush_net_policy/|title=Bush administration annexes internet|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919130539/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/01/bush_net_policy/|archive-date=19 September 2011|first=Kieren|last=McCarthy|website=The Register|date=1 July 2005}}{{cite book |last= Mueller |first= Milton L. |title= Networks and States: The Global Politics of Internet Governance |publisher= MIT Press |year= 2010 |isbn= 978-0-262-01459-5 |page= 61}}{{cite web|title=ICG Applauds Transfer of IANA Stewardship|url=https://www.ianacg.org/icg-applauds-transfer-of-iana-stewardship/|website=IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG)|access-date=8 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712190131/https://www.ianacg.org/icg-applauds-transfer-of-iana-stewardship/|archive-date=12 July 2017|url-status=live}} The Internet Society (ISOC) was founded in 1992 with a mission to "assure the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world".{{cite web |url=http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/isochistory.shtml |title=Internet Society (ISOC) All About The Internet: History of the Internet |publisher=ISOC |access-date=19 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127114016/http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/isochistory.shtml |archive-date=27 November 2011 }} Its members include individuals (anyone may join) as well as corporations, organizations, governments, and universities. Among other activities ISOC provides an administrative home for a number of less formally organized groups that are involved in developing and managing the Internet, including: the IETF, Internet Architecture Board (IAB), Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG), Internet Research Task Force (IRTF), and Internet Research Steering Group (IRSG). On 16 November 2005, the United Nations-sponsored World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis established the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) to discuss Internet-related issues.

{{See also|List of countries by number of Internet users|List of countries by Internet connection speeds}}

File:World map of submarine cables.png

The communications infrastructure of the Internet consists of its hardware components and a system of software layers that control various aspects of the architecture. As with any computer network, the Internet physically consists of routers, media (such as cabling and radio links), repeaters, modems etc. However, as an example of internetworking, many of the network nodes are not necessarily Internet equipment per se. The internet packets are carried by other full-fledged networking protocols with the Internet acting as a homogeneous networking standard, running across heterogeneous hardware, with the packets guided to their destinations by IP routers.

File:Internet Connectivity Distribution & Core.svg

Internet service providers (ISPs) establish the worldwide connectivity between individual networks at various levels of scope. End-users who only access the Internet when needed to perform a function or obtain information, represent the bottom of the routing hierarchy. At the top of the routing hierarchy are the tier 1 networks, large telecommunication companies that exchange traffic directly with each other via very high speed fiber-optic cables and governed by peering agreements. Tier 2 and lower-level networks buy Internet transit from other providers to reach at least some parties on the global Internet, though they may also engage in peering. An ISP may use a single upstream provider for connectivity, or implement multihoming to achieve redundancy and load balancing. Internet exchange points are major traffic exchanges with physical connections to multiple ISPs. Large organizations, such as academic institutions, large enterprises, and governments, may perform the same function as ISPs, engaging in peering and purchasing transit on behalf of their internal networks. Research networks tend to interconnect with large subnetworks such as GEANT, GLORIAD, Internet2, and the UK's national research and education network, JANET.

Common methods of Internet access by users include dial-up with a computer modem via telephone circuits, broadband over coaxial cable, fiber optics or copper wires, Wi-Fi, satellite, and cellular telephone technology (e.g. 3G, 4G). The Internet may often be accessed from computers in libraries and Internet cafés. Internet access points exist in many public places such as airport halls and coffee shops. Various terms are used, such as public Internet kiosk, public access terminal, and Web payphone. Many hotels also have public terminals that are usually fee-based. These terminals are widely accessed for various usages, such as ticket booking, bank deposit, or online payment. Wi-Fi provides wireless access to the Internet via local computer networks. Hotspots providing such access include Wi-Fi cafés, where users need to bring their own wireless devices, such as a laptop or PDA. These services may be free to all, free to customers only, or fee-based.

Grassroots efforts have led to wireless community networks. Commercial Wi-Fi services that cover large areas are available in many cities, such as New York, London, Vienna, Toronto, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago and Pittsburgh, where the Internet can then be accessed from places such as a park bench.{{cite web|last=Pasternak |first=Sean B. |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aQ0ZfhMa4XGQ |title=Toronto Hydro to Install Wireless Network in Downtown Toronto |publisher=Bloomberg |date=7 March 2006 |access-date=8 August 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060410104717/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aQ0ZfhMa4XGQ |archive-date=10 April 2006 }} Experiments have also been conducted with proprietary mobile wireless networks like Ricochet, various high-speed data services over cellular networks, and fixed wireless services. Modern smartphones can also access the Internet through the cellular carrier network. For Web browsing, these devices provide applications such as Google Chrome, Safari, and Firefox and a wide variety of other Internet software may be installed from app stores. Internet usage by mobile and tablet devices exceeded desktop worldwide for the first time in October 2016.{{cite web|quote=StatCounter Global Stats finds that mobile and tablet devices accounted for 51.3% of Internet usage worldwide in October compared to 48.7% by desktop.|url=http://gs.statcounter.com/press/mobile-and-tablet-internet-usage-exceeds-desktop-for-first-time-worldwide|title=Mobile and Tablet Internet Usage Exceeds Desktop for First Time Worldwide|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101170640/http://gs.statcounter.com/press/mobile-and-tablet-internet-usage-exceeds-desktop-for-first-time-worldwide|archive-date=1 November 2016|website=StatCounter: Global Stats, Press Release|date=1 November 2016}}

File:Number of mobile cellular subscriptions 2012-2016.svg The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) estimated that, by the end of 2017, 48% of individual users regularly connect to the Internet, up from 34% in 2012.{{cite web|url=https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/wtid.aspx|title=World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database 2020 (24th Edition/July 2020)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421072228/https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/wtid.aspx|archive-date=21 April 2019|website=International Telecommunication Union (ITU)|date=2017a|quote=Key ICT indicators for developed and developing countries and the world (totals and penetration rates). World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database}} Mobile Internet connectivity has played an important role in expanding access in recent years, especially in Asia and the Pacific and in Africa.{{Cite book|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002610/261065e.pdf|title=World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development Global Report 2017/2018|publisher=UNESCO|year=2018|access-date=29 May 2018|archive-date=20 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920181419/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002610/261065e.pdf|url-status=live}} The number of unique mobile cellular subscriptions increased from 3.9 billion in 2012 to 4.8 billion in 2016, two-thirds of the world's population, with more than half of subscriptions located in Asia and the Pacific. The number of subscriptions was predicted to rise to 5.7 billion users in 2020.{{Cite web|date=11 March 2019|title=GSMA The Mobile Economy 2019 |url=https://www.gsma.com/r/mobileeconomy/|access-date=28 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311062226/https://www.gsma.com/r/mobileeconomy/|archive-date=11 March 2019}} {{as of|2018}}, 80% of the world's population were covered by a 4G network. The limits that users face on accessing information via mobile applications coincide with a broader process of fragmentation of the Internet. Fragmentation restricts access to media content and tends to affect the poorest users the most.

Zero-rating, the practice of Internet service providers allowing users free connectivity to access specific content or applications without cost, has offered opportunities to surmount economic hurdles but has also been accused by its critics as creating a two-tiered Internet. To address the issues with zero-rating, an alternative model has emerged in the concept of 'equal rating' and is being tested in experiments by Mozilla and Orange in Africa. Equal rating prevents prioritization of one type of content and zero-rates all content up to a specified data cap. In a study published by Chatham House, 15 out of 19 countries researched in Latin America had some kind of hybrid or zero-rated product offered. Some countries in the region had a handful of plans to choose from (across all mobile network operators) while others, such as Colombia, offered as many as 30 pre-paid and 34 post-paid plans.{{Cite web|last=Galpaya|first=Helani|date=12 April 2019|title=Zero-rating in Emerging Economies|url=https://www.cigionline.org/sites/default/files/documents/GCIG%20no.47_1.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412062932/https://www.cigionline.org/sites/default/files/documents/GCIG%20no.47_1.pdf|archive-date=12 April 2019|access-date=28 November 2020|website=Global Commission on Internet Governance}}

A study of eight countries in the Global South found that zero-rated data plans exist in every country, although there is a great range in the frequency with which they are offered and actually used in each.{{Cite web|url=http://a4ai.org/the-impacts-of-emerging-mobiledata-services-in-developing-countries/|title=Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI). 2015. Models of Mobile Data Services in Developing Countries. Research brief. The Impacts of Emerging Mobile Data Services in Developing Countries.}}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The study looked at the top three to five carriers by market share in Bangladesh, Colombia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Peru and Philippines. Across the 181 plans examined, 13 percent were offering zero-rated services. Another study, covering Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, found Facebook's Free Basics and Wikipedia Zero to be the most commonly zero-rated content.{{Cite web|last1= Gillwald|first1= Alison|first2=Chenai|last2=Chair|first3=Ariel |last3=Futter |first4=Kweku|last4= Koranteng |first5=Fola |last5= Odufuwa|first6= John|last6= Walubengo|date=12 September 2016|title=Much Ado About Nothing? Zero Rating in the African Context|url=https://researchictafrica.net/publications/Other_publications/2016_RIA_Zero-Rating_Policy_Paper_-_Much_ado_about_nothing.pdf|access-date=28 November 2020|website=Researchictafrica|archive-date=16 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216150858/https://researchictafrica.net/publications/Other_publications/2016_RIA_Zero-Rating_Policy_Paper_-_Much_ado_about_nothing.pdf|url-status=live}}

{{IP stack}}

The Internet standards describe a framework known as the Internet protocol suite (also called TCP/IP, based on the first two components.) This is a suite of protocols that are ordered into a set of four conceptional layers by the scope of their operation, originally documented in {{IETF RFC|1122}} and {{IETF RFC|1123}}. At the top is the application layer, where communication is described in terms of the objects or data structures most appropriate for each application. For example, a web browser operates in a client–server application model and exchanges information with the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and an application-germane data structure, such as the HyperText Markup Language (HTML).

Below this top layer, the transport layer connects applications on different hosts with a logical channel through the network. It provides this service with a variety of possible characteristics, such as ordered, reliable delivery (TCP), and an unreliable datagram service (UDP).

Underlying these layers are the networking technologies that interconnect networks at their borders and exchange traffic across them. The Internet layer implements the Internet Protocol (IP) which enables computers to identify and locate each other by IP address and route their traffic via intermediate (transit) networks.{{Cite IETF|rfc=791|title=Internet Protocol, DARPA Internet Program Protocol Specification|editor=J. Postel|date=September 1981|publisher=IETF}} Updated by {{IETF RFC|1349|2474|6864}} The Internet Protocol layer code is independent of the type of network that it is physically running over.

At the bottom of the architecture is the link layer, which connects nodes on the same physical link, and contains protocols that do not require routers for traversal to other links. The protocol suite does not explicitly specify hardware methods to transfer bits, or protocols to manage such hardware, but assumes that appropriate technology is available. Examples of that technology include Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and DSL.

File:UDP encapsulation.svg

Image:IP stack connections.svg

The most prominent component of the Internet model is the Internet Protocol (IP). IP enables internetworking and, in essence, establishes the Internet itself. Two versions of the Internet Protocol exist, IPv4 and IPv6.

File:An example of theoretical DNS recursion.svg

For locating individual computers on the network, the Internet provides IP addresses. IP addresses are used by the Internet infrastructure to direct internet packets to their destinations. They consist of fixed-length numbers, which are found within the packet. IP addresses are generally assigned to equipment either automatically via DHCP, or are configured.

However, the network also supports other addressing systems. Users generally enter domain names (e.g. "en.wikipedia.org") instead of IP addresses because they are easier to remember; they are converted by the Domain Name System (DNS) into IP addresses which are more efficient for routing purposes.

Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) defines an IP address as a 32-bit number. IPv4 is the initial version used on the first generation of the Internet and is still in dominant use. It was designed in 1981 to address up to ≈4.3 billion (10⁹) hosts. However, the explosive growth of the Internet has led to IPv4 address exhaustion, which entered its final stage in 2011,{{cite web|last=Huston |first=Geoff |title=IPv4 Address Report, daily generated |url=http://www.potaroo.net/tools/ipv4/index.html |access-date=20 May 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401001902/http://www.potaroo.net/tools/ipv4/index.html |archive-date=1 April 2009 }} when the global IPv4 address allocation pool was exhausted.

Because of the growth of the Internet and the depletion of available IPv4 addresses, a new version of IP IPv6, was developed in the mid-1990s, which provides vastly larger addressing capabilities and more efficient routing of Internet traffic. IPv6 uses 128 bits for the IP address and was standardized in 1998.{{Cite IETF|rfc=1883|title=Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification|author-link1=Steve Deering|author1=S. Deering|author2=R. Hinden|date=December 1995|publisher=Network Working Group}}{{Cite IETF|rfc=2460|title=Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification|author-link1=Steve Deering|author1=S. Deering|author2=R. Hinden|publisher=Network Working Group|date=December 1998}}{{Cite IETF|rfc=8200|title=Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification|author-link1=Steve Deering|author1=S. Deering|author2=R. Hinden|publisher=IETF|date=July 2017}} IPv6 deployment has been ongoing since the mid-2000s and is currently in growing deployment around the world, since Internet address registries (RIRs) began to urge all resource managers to plan rapid adoption and conversion.{{cite web |url=https://www.arin.net/knowledge/about_resources/ceo_letter.pdf |title=Notice of Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) Address Depletion |access-date=7 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107095025/https://www.arin.net/knowledge/about_resources/ceo_letter.pdf |archive-date=7 January 2010 }}

IPv6 is not directly interoperable by design with IPv4. In essence, it establishes a parallel version of the Internet not directly accessible with IPv4 software. Thus, translation facilities must exist for internetworking or nodes must have duplicate networking software for both networks. Essentially all modern computer operating systems support both versions of the Internet Protocol. Network infrastructure, however, has been lagging in this development. Aside from the complex array of physical connections that make up its infrastructure, the Internet is facilitated by bi- or multi-lateral commercial contracts, e.g., peering agreements, and by technical specifications or protocols that describe the exchange of data over the network. Indeed, the Internet is defined by its interconnections and routing policies.

File:Subnetting Concept-en.svg

A subnetwork or subnet is a logical subdivision of an IP network.{{Cite IETF|rfc=950|publisher=IETF|author1=Jeffrey Mogul|author2=Jon Postel|author-link2=Jon Postel|title=Internet Standard Subnetting Procedure|date=August 1985}} Updated by RFC 6918.{{rp|1,16}} The practice of dividing a network into two or more networks is called subnetting. Computers that belong to a subnet are addressed with an identical most-significant bit-group in their IP addresses. This results in the logical division of an IP address into two fields, the network number or routing prefix and the rest field or host identifier. The rest field is an identifier for a specific host or network interface.

The routing prefix may be expressed in Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) notation written as the first address of a network, followed by a slash character (/), and ending with the bit-length of the prefix. For example, {{IPaddr|198.51.100.0|24}} is the prefix of the Internet Protocol version 4 network starting at the given address, having 24 bits allocated for the network prefix, and the remaining 8 bits reserved for host addressing. Addresses in the range {{IPaddr|198.51.100.0}} to {{IPaddr|198.51.100.255}} belong to this network. The IPv6 address specification {{IPaddr|2001:db8::|32}} is a large address block with 2⁹⁶ addresses, having a 32-bit routing prefix.

For IPv4, a network may also be characterized by its subnet mask or netmask, which is the bitmask that when applied by a bitwise AND operation to any IP address in the network, yields the routing prefix. Subnet masks are also expressed in dot-decimal notation like an address. For example, {{IPaddr|255.255.255.0}} is the subnet mask for the prefix {{IPaddr|198.51.100.0|24}}.

Traffic is exchanged between subnetworks through routers when the routing prefixes of the source address and the destination address differ. A router serves as a logical or physical boundary between the subnets.

The benefits of subnetting an existing network vary with each deployment scenario. In the address allocation architecture of the Internet using CIDR and in large organizations, it is necessary to allocate address space efficiently. Subnetting may also enhance routing efficiency or have advantages in network management when subnetworks are administratively controlled by different entities in a larger organization. Subnets may be arranged logically in a hierarchical architecture, partitioning an organization's network address space into a tree-like routing structure.

Computers and routers use routing tables in their operating system to direct IP packets to reach a node on a different subnetwork. Routing tables are maintained by manual configuration or automatically by routing protocols. End-nodes typically use a default route that points toward an ISP providing transit, while ISP routers use the Border Gateway Protocol to establish the most efficient routing across the complex connections of the global Internet. The default gateway is the node that serves as the forwarding host (router) to other networks when no other route specification matches the destination IP address of a packet.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-find-your-default-gateway-ip-address-2626072|title=How to Find Your Default Gateway IP Address|last=Fisher|first=Tim|website=Lifewire|access-date=25 February 2019|archive-date=25 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225162425/https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-find-your-default-gateway-ip-address-2626072|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.techopedia.com/definition/2184/default-gateway|title=Default Gateway|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026160616/https://www.techopedia.com/definition/2184/default-gateway|archive-date=26 October 2020|website=techopedia.com|date=30 June 2020 }}

While the hardware components in the Internet infrastructure can often be used to support other software systems, it is the design and the standardization process of the software that characterizes the Internet and provides the foundation for its scalability and success. The responsibility for the architectural design of the Internet software systems has been assumed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).{{cite web|url=http://www.ietf.org/ |title=IETF Home Page |publisher=Ietf.org |access-date=20 June 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618032558/http://www.ietf.org/ |archive-date=18 June 2009 }} The IETF conducts standard-setting work groups, open to any individual, about the various aspects of Internet architecture. The resulting contributions and standards are published as Request for Comments (RFC) documents on the IETF web site. The principal methods of networking that enable the Internet are contained in specially designated RFCs that constitute the Internet Standards. Other less rigorous documents are simply informative, experimental, or historical, or document the best current practices (BCP) when implementing Internet technologies.

The Internet carries many applications and services, most prominently the World Wide Web, including social media, electronic mail, mobile applications, multiplayer online games, Internet telephony, file sharing, and streaming media services. Most servers that provide these services are today hosted in data centers, and content is often accessed through high-performance content delivery networks.

{{Main|World Wide Web}}

File:First Web Server.jpg was used by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN and became the world's first Web server.]]

The World Wide Web is a global collection of documents, images, multimedia, applications, and other resources, logically interrelated by hyperlinks and referenced with Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), which provide a global system of named references. URIs symbolically identify services, web servers, databases, and the documents and resources that they can provide. HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the main access protocol of the World Wide Web. Web services also use HTTP for communication between software systems for information transfer, sharing and exchanging business data and logistics and is one of many languages or protocols that can be used for communication on the Internet.{{cite web|url=http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/Web_vs_Internet.asp |title=The Difference Between the Internet and the World Wide Web |work=Webopedia |publisher=QuinStreet Inc. |date=24 June 2010 |access-date=1 May 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502001005/http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/Web_vs_Internet.asp |archive-date=2 May 2014 }}

World Wide Web browser software, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer/Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Apple's Safari, and Google Chrome, enable users to navigate from one web page to another via the hyperlinks embedded in the documents. These documents may also contain any combination of computer data, including graphics, sounds, text, video, multimedia and interactive content that runs while the user is interacting with the page. Client-side software can include animations, games, office applications and scientific demonstrations. Through keyword-driven Internet research using search engines like Yahoo!, Bing and Google, users worldwide have easy, instant access to a vast and diverse amount of online information. Compared to printed media, books, encyclopedias and traditional libraries, the World Wide Web has enabled the decentralization of information on a large scale.

The Web has enabled individuals and organizations to publish ideas and information to a potentially large audience online at greatly reduced expense and time delay. Publishing a web page, a blog, or building a website involves little initial cost and many cost-free services are available. However, publishing and maintaining large, professional websites with attractive, diverse and up-to-date information is still a difficult and expensive proposition. Many individuals and some companies and groups use web logs or blogs, which are largely used as easily being able to update online diaries. Some commercial organizations encourage staff to communicate advice in their areas of specialization in the hope that visitors will be impressed by the expert knowledge and free information and be attracted to the corporation as a result.

Advertising on popular web pages can be lucrative, and e-commerce, which is the sale of products and services directly via the Web, continues to grow. Online advertising is a form of marketing and advertising which uses the Internet to deliver promotional marketing messages to consumers. It includes email marketing, search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing, many types of display advertising (including web banner advertising), and mobile advertising. In 2011, Internet advertising revenues in the United States surpassed those of cable television and nearly exceeded those of broadcast television.{{cite web |url = http://www.iab.net/media/file/IAB_Internet_Advertising_Revenue_Report_FY_2012_rev.pdf |title = IAB Internet advertising revenue report: 2012 full year results |date = April 2013 |publisher = PricewaterhouseCoopers, Internet Advertising Bureau |access-date = 12 June 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141004001439/http://www.iab.net/media/file/IAB_Internet_Advertising_Revenue_Report_FY_2012_rev.pdf |archive-date = 4 October 2014 }}{{rp|19}} Many common online advertising practices are controversial and increasingly subject to regulation.

When the Web developed in the 1990s, a typical web page was stored in completed form on a web server, formatted in HTML, ready for transmission to a web browser in response to a request. Over time, the process of creating and serving web pages has become dynamic, creating a flexible design, layout, and content. Websites are often created using content management software with, initially, very little content. Contributors to these systems, who may be paid staff, members of an organization or the public, fill underlying databases with content using editing pages designed for that purpose while casual visitors view and read this content in HTML form. There may or may not be editorial, approval and security systems built into the process of taking newly entered content and making it available to the target visitors.

Email is an important communications service available via the Internet. The concept of sending electronic text messages between parties, analogous to mailing letters or memos, predates the creation of the Internet.{{cite journal|first=Ron|last=Brown|title=Fax invades the mail market|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ry64sjvOmLkC&pg=PA218|journal=New Scientist|volume=56|issue=817|date=October 26, 1972|pages=218–221}}{{cite journal|first=Herbert P.|last=Luckett|title=What's News: Electronic-mail delivery gets started|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cKSqa8u3EIoC&pg=PA85|journal=Popular Science|volume=202|issue=3|date=March 1973|page=85}} Pictures, documents, and other files are sent as email attachments. Email messages can be cc-ed to multiple email addresses.

Internet telephony is a common communications service realized with the Internet. The name of the principal internetworking protocol, the Internet Protocol, lends its name to voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). The idea began in the early 1990s with walkie-talkie-like voice applications for personal computers. VoIP systems now dominate many markets and are as easy to use and as convenient as a traditional telephone. The benefit has been substantial cost savings over traditional telephone calls, especially over long distances. Cable, ADSL, and mobile data networks provide Internet access in customer premises{{cite journal|last=Booth|first=C|title=Chapter 2: IP Phones, Software VoIP, and Integrated and Mobile VoIP|journal=Library Technology Reports|year=2010|volume=46|issue=5|pages=11–19}} and inexpensive VoIP network adapters provide the connection for traditional analog telephone sets. The voice quality of VoIP often exceeds that of traditional calls. Remaining problems for VoIP include the situation that emergency services may not be universally available and that devices rely on a local power supply, while older traditional phones are powered from the local loop, and typically operate during a power failure.

File sharing is an example of transferring large amounts of data across the Internet. A computer file can be emailed to customers, colleagues and friends as an attachment. It can be uploaded to a website or File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server for easy download by others. It can be put into a "shared location" or onto a file server for instant use by colleagues. The load of bulk downloads to many users can be eased by the use of "mirror" servers or peer-to-peer networks. In any of these cases, access to the file may be controlled by user authentication, the transit of the file over the Internet may be obscured by encryption, and money may change hands for access to the file. The price can be paid by the remote charging of funds from, for example, a credit card whose details are also passed—usually fully encrypted—across the Internet. The origin and authenticity of the file received may be checked by digital signatures or by MD5 or other message digests. These simple features of the Internet, over a worldwide basis, are changing the production, sale, and distribution of anything that can be reduced to a computer file for transmission. This includes all manner of print publications, software products, news, music, film, video, photography, graphics and the other arts. This in turn has caused seismic shifts in each of the existing industries that previously controlled the production and distribution of these products.

Streaming media is the real-time delivery of digital media for immediate consumption or enjoyment by end users. Many radio and television broadcasters provide Internet feeds of their live audio and video productions. They may also allow time-shift viewing or listening such as Preview, Classic Clips and Listen Again features. These providers have been joined by a range of pure Internet "broadcasters" who never had on-air licenses. This means that an Internet-connected device, such as a computer or something more specific, can be used to access online media in much the same way as was previously possible only with a television or radio receiver. The range of available types of content is much wider, from specialized technical webcasts to on-demand popular multimedia services. Podcasting is a variation on this theme, where—usually audio—material is downloaded and played back on a computer or shifted to a portable media player to be listened to on the move. These techniques using simple equipment allow anybody, with little censorship or licensing control, to broadcast audio-visual material worldwide. Digital media streaming increases the demand for network bandwidth. For example, standard image quality needs 1 Mbit/s link speed for SD 480p, HD 720p quality requires 2.5 Mbit/s, and the top-of-the-line HDX quality needs 4.5 Mbit/s for 1080p.{{cite web |last=Morrison |first=Geoff |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/40241749 |title=What to know before buying a 'connected' TV – Technology & science – Tech and gadgets – Tech Holiday Guide |publisher=NBC News |date=18 November 2010 |access-date=8 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212091603/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/40241749 |archive-date=12 February 2020 |url-status=dead }}

Webcams are a low-cost extension of this phenomenon. While some webcams can give full-frame-rate video, the picture either is usually small or updates slowly. Internet users can watch animals around an African waterhole, ships in the Panama Canal, traffic at a local roundabout or monitor their own premises, live and in real time. Video chat rooms and video conferencing are also popular with many uses being found for personal webcams, with and without two-way sound. YouTube was founded on 15 February 2005 and is now the leading website for free streaming video with more than two billion users.{{Cite web|title=Press|url=https://www.youtube.com/about/press/|access-date=19 August 2020|website=YouTube|archive-date=11 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171111094352/https://www.youtube.com/yt/about/press/|url-status=live}} It uses an HTML5 based web player by default to stream and show video files.{{Cite news|url=https://youtube-eng.googleblog.com/2015/01/youtube-now-defaults-to-html5_27.html|title=YouTube now defaults to HTML5|work=YouTube Engineering and Developers Blog|access-date=10 September 2018|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910204225/https://youtube-eng.googleblog.com/2015/01/youtube-now-defaults-to-html5_27.html|archive-date=10 September 2018|url-status=live}} Registered users may upload an unlimited amount of video and build their own personal profile. YouTube claims that its users watch hundreds of millions, and upload hundreds of thousands of videos daily.

The Internet has enabled new forms of social interaction, activities, and social associations. This phenomenon has given rise to the scholarly study of the sociology of the Internet. The early Internet left an impact on some writers who used symbolism to write about it, such as describing the Internet as a "means to connect individuals in a vast invisible net over all the earth."{{Cite book |last1=Carlson |first1=Kathie |title=The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images |last2=Flanagin |first2=Michael N. |last3=Martin |first3=Kathleen |last4=Martin |first4=Mary E. |last5=Mendelsohn |first5=John |last6=Rodgers |first6=Priscilla Young |last7=Ronnberg |first7=Ami |last8=Salman |first8=Sherry |last9=Wesley |first9=Deborah A. |publisher=Taschen |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-8365-1448-4 |editor-last=Arm |editor-first=Karen |location=Köln |page=518 |editor-last2=Ueda |editor-first2=Kako |editor-last3=Thulin |editor-first3=Anne |editor-last4=Langerak |editor-first4=Allison |editor-last5=Kiley |editor-first5=Timothy Gus |editor-last6=Wolff |editor-first6=Mary}}

{{See also|Global Internet usage|English in computing|Languages used on the Internet}}

File:Graph depicting share of the population using the Internet.png. ]]

File:Internet users for 100 people by GDP per capita.svg per capita for selected countries]]

File:Internet users per 100 inhabitants ITU.svg.[http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/statistics/2014/ITU_Key_2005-2014_ICT_data.xls "Individuals using the Internet 2005 to 2014"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528031339/http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/statistics/2014/ITU_Key_2005-2014_ICT_data.xls |date=28 May 2015 }}, Key ICT indicators for developed and developing countries and the world (totals and penetration rates), International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 25 May 2015.[http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/ict/ "Internet users per 100 inhabitants 1997 to 2007"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517033104/http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/ict/ |date=17 May 2015 }}, ICT Data and Statistics (IDS), International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 25 May 2015.]]

Between 2000 and 2009, the number of Internet users globally rose from 390 million to 1.9 billion.[https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/ Internet users graphs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200509175322/https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx |date=9 May 2020 }}, Market Information and Statistics, International Telecommunication Union By 2010, 22% of the world's population had access to computers with 1 billion Google searches every day, 300 million Internet users reading blogs, and 2 billion videos viewed daily on YouTube.{{cite web|url=http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/71940/google-earth-demonstrates-how-technology-benefits-ris-civil-society-govt |title=Google Earth demonstrates how technology benefits RI's civil society, govt |publisher=Antara News |date=26 May 2011 |access-date=19 November 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029074528/http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/71940/google-earth-demonstrates-how-technology-benefits-ris-civil-society-govt |archive-date=29 October 2012 }} In 2014 the world's Internet users surpassed 3 billion or 44 percent of world population, but two-thirds came from the richest countries, with 78 percent of Europeans using the Internet, followed by 57 percent of the Americas.{{cite web|url=https://www.engadget.com/2014/11/25/3-billion-internet-users/ |title=There are now 3 billion Internet users, mostly in rich countries |author=Steve Dent |date=25 November 2014 |access-date=25 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128020032/http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/25/3-billion-internet-users/ |archive-date=28 November 2014 }} However, by 2018, Asia alone accounted for 51% of all Internet users, with 2.2 billion out of the 4.3 billion Internet users in the world. China's Internet users surpassed a major milestone in 2018, when the country's Internet regulatory authority, China Internet Network Information Centre, announced that China had 802 million users.{{cite web|url=https://cnnic.com.cn/IDR/ReportDownloads/201807/P020180711391069195909.pdf|website=Cnnic.com|title=Statistical Report on Internet Development in China|date=January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412062935/https://cnnic.com.cn/IDR/ReportDownloads/201807/P020180711391069195909.pdf|archive-date=12 April 2019|url-status=live}} China was followed by India, with some 700 million users, with the United States third with 275 million users. However, in terms of penetration, in 2022 China had a 70% penetration rate compared to India's 60% and the United States's 90%.{{cite web|url=https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm|title=World Internet Users Statistics and 2019 World Population Stats|website=internetworldstats.com|access-date=17 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124192836/http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm|archive-date=24 November 2017|url-status=live}} In 2022, 54% of the world's Internet users were based in Asia, 14% in Europe, 7% in North America, 10% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 11% in Africa, 4% in the Middle East and 1% in Oceania.{{cite web|url=http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm|title=World Internet Usage Statistics News and Population Stats|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319013935/http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm|archive-date=19 March 2017|date=30 June 2023|access-date=14 December 2023}} In 2019, Kuwait, Qatar, the Falkland Islands, Bermuda and Iceland had the highest Internet penetration by the number of users, with 93% or more of the population with access.[http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/statistics/2013/Individuals_Internet_2000-2012.xls "Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000–2012"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209141641/http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/statistics/2013/Individuals_Internet_2000-2012.xls |date=9 February 2014 }}, International Telecommunication Union (Geneva), June 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013. As of 2022, it was estimated that 5.4 billion people use the Internet, more than two-thirds of the world's population.{{Cite web|url=https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm|title=World Internet Users Statistics and 2023 World Population Stats|website=Internet World Stats |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319110853/https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm |archive-date= Mar 19, 2024 }}

The prevalent language for communication via the Internet has always been English. This may be a result of the origin of the Internet, as well as the language's role as a lingua franca and as a world language. Early computer systems were limited to the characters in the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII), a subset of the Latin alphabet. After English (27%), the most requested languages on the World Wide Web are Chinese (25%), Spanish (8%), Japanese (5%), Portuguese and German (4% each), Arabic, French and Russian (3% each), and Korean (2%). The Internet's technologies have developed enough in recent years, especially in the use of Unicode, that good facilities are available for development and communication in the world's widely used languages. However, some glitches such as mojibake (incorrect display of some languages' characters) still remain.

In a US study in 2005, the percentage of men using the Internet was very slightly ahead of the percentage of women, although this difference reversed in those under 30. Men logged on more often, spent more time online, and were more likely to be broadband users, whereas women tended to make more use of opportunities to communicate (such as email). Men were more likely to use the Internet to pay bills, participate in auctions, and for recreation such as downloading music and videos. Men and women were equally likely to use the Internet for shopping and banking.{{Cite web |last=Fallows |first=Deborah |date=2005-12-28 |title=How Women and Men Use the Internet |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2005/12/28/how-women-and-men-use-the-internet/ |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230608191432/https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2005/12/28/how-women-and-men-use-the-internet/ |archive-date= Jun 8, 2023 }} In 2008, women significantly outnumbered men on most social networking services, such as Facebook and Myspace, although the ratios varied with age.{{cite web |url=http://business.rapleaf.com/company_press_2008_07_29.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090320211742/http://business.rapleaf.com/company_press_2008_07_29.html|archive-date=20 March 2009 |title=Rapleaf Study Reveals Gender and Age Data of Social Network Users |website=Rapleaf |date=July 29, 2008 }} Women watched more streaming content, whereas men downloaded more.{{cite web|url=http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/178175272.html |title=Women Ahead of Men in Online Tv, Dvr, Games, And Social Media. |publisher=Entrepreneur |date=1 May 2008 |access-date=8 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916094836/http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/178175272.html |archive-date=16 September 2008 }} Men were more likely to blog. Among those who blog, men were more likely to have a professional blog, whereas women were more likely to have a personal blog.{{cite web |url=http://technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere/ |title= State of the Blogosphere |publisher=Technorati |access-date=8 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002101707/http://technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere/ |archive-date=2 October 2009 }}

Several neologisms exist that refer to Internet users: Netizen (as in "citizen of the net"){{cite book|last1=Seese|first1=Michael|isbn=978-1-60005-132-6|page=130|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3noNR3IfSpgC&q=citizen+of+the+net&pg=PA130|title=Scrappy Information Security|access-date=5 June 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905151414/https://books.google.com/books?id=3noNR3IfSpgC&pg=PA130&lpg=PA130&dq=citizen+of+the+net|archive-date=5 September 2017|year=2009|publisher=Happy About }} refers to those actively involved in improving online communities, the Internet in general or surrounding political affairs and rights such as free speech,"[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/netizen netizen]", Dictionary.com. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421223939/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/netizen |date=21 April 2012 }}.{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/ch106.x01|title=The Net and Netizens|first=Michael|last=Hauben |date=June 5, 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604214312/http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/ch106.x01|archive-date=4 June 2011|publisher=Columbia University}} Internaut refers to operators or technically highly capable users of the Internet,{{cite web|url=http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml|title=A Brief History of the Internet |date=10 Dec 2003 |first1=B M. |last1=Leiner |first2=V G. |last2=Cerf |first3=D D. |last3=Clark |first4=R E. |last4=Kahn |first5=L |last5=Kleinrock |first6=D C. |last6=Lynch |first7=J |last7=Postel |first8=L G. |last8=Roberts |first9=S |last9=Wolff |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070604153304/http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml|archive-date=4 June 2007|website=the Internet Society}}{{cite web|title= internaut |url=https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/internaut |website=Oxford Dictionaries |access-date=6 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150613002443/https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/internaut |archive-date=13 June 2015 }} digital citizen refers to a person using the Internet in order to engage in society, politics, and government participation.{{cite book|first1=Karen|last1=Mossberger|title=Digital Citizenship – The Internet, Society and Participation|first2=Caroline J.|last2=Tolbert|first3=Ramona S.|last3=McNeal|year=2011|publisher=SPIE Press |isbn=978-0-8194-5606-9}}

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