By Dave Wallace

This article is a FAQ on the Internet itself. Why? Because many people still have a pretty vague idea of what the Internet really is. Here's a few of the questions I frequently hear.

What is the Internet?

It's simply a bunch of worldwide computers connected together. Better yet, it's a bunch of worldwide communication networks of computers interconnected, hence the name Internet.

Who owns the Internet?

Nobody owns the Internet. It is a sprawling growing network of networks that span the world. What is really amazing is that this hodgepodge works at all when one considers the concern the Bell System had in earlier years with "foreign devices" connected to its network. The Internet has everything attached but the kitchen sink.

If nobody owns the Internet who pays for it?

Everybody that uses the Internet pays for a piece of it. When you subscribe to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) you pay a monthly fee. The ISP does the same with the provider for his access to an Internet Gateway who in turn pays his share to a backbone provider. In between the links are thousands of companies providing equipment such as PCs, Servers, Routers, etc. Advertisers pay for much of the free stuff available.

It seems that the Internet suddenly appeared out of nowhere. How did this happen?

You're right. It came on like gangbusters in the '90s because companies called ISPs saw a market for affordable access to Internet. Before that, users were mostly institutions. Even earlier, users were restricted to institutions doing research for the government. In New Bern, the Internet began in 1994 when Coastalnet started with 3 employees and offered access to 91 subscribers. Today, they have 150 employees and 50,000 subscribers in 37 counties in eastern NC.

Who invented the Internet?

This is a tough question. No, it wasn't Al Gore. The answer will vary depending on whom you ask. Also one has to define what you mean by "Internet", sort of like defining the meaning of "is." Instead of Internet it was called ARPANET originally for Advanced Research Projects Agency Network of the Department of Defense. The name Internet didn't appear until the mid '70s, about the time that Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn developed a protocol called TCP/IP that permitted networks of varying types to interconnect. So the answer for some people is that Cerf and Kahn were the fathers of Internet. Others, including myself, go back earlier to Paul Baran in 1964. Baran published a report on an Air Force contract called "Distributed Communications Networks." that proposed a high-speed message switching system much like Internet today. A few years later, Dr Larry Roberts of ARPA proposed an experimental network called ARPANET that used the concepts proposed by Baran. I go with Paul Baran as the founding father of the Internet.

Is there something that makes the Internet unique from earlier computer networks?

Yes. It uses very fast "packet switching" unlike conventional telephone connections called "line switching" where two points are hard-wired together. Packet switching is a virtual connection. All data is transmitted in clusters called packets and each packet takes whatever route is available to its destination. As the packets arrive at the destination, they're reassembled back in the order transmitted. The advantage is that circuits carrying the packets operate more efficiently. It is also more reliable because packets can route around failed facilities. Lastly, a protocol called TCP/IP permits networks of varying types to interconnect.

How big is the Internet?

Frankly I don't think anyone knows anymore. There are many statistics flying around, most of which are outdated and recent ones appear to be extrapolations of earlier numbers. The National Science Foundation used to keep track of things when they subsidized the backbone but they're out of the picture now. NUA Internet Surveys (whoever they are) says that there are 248.6 million people worldwide using Internet as of January 2000 with a little over half of the users in the US and Canada. Take a look at http://www.netsizer.com/daily.html and see how fast hosts are being added to the Internet - about one every second! A host is like your ISP.

Who is in the driver's seat to make sure all the pieces of Internet work together?

Good question. The Internet doesn't just chug along haphazardly. Lots of people are keeping a close eye on things. These people are members of a myriad of international and domestic organizations each with the responsibility to keep their assigned parts of Internet humming. Here's a few of the organizations: Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Internet Research Task Force (IRTF), InterNetworking Working Group (INWG), International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

Will the Internet become a fad like CB radio was a few years back?

I don't think so. But should the Internet become terribly congested with traffic, as CB radio became, it could go downhill. Many ISPs are already experiencing traffic congestion because they're not adding facilities fast enough. But Internet is worldwide. There's too much at stake to let it deteriorate. It is improving the way we communicate and gather information. I see the Internet becoming  far better than worse in future years especially as communication facilities become faster and cheaper.