History of the Internet :: Computer Network

A Free NetThe Internet has revolutionized the communication dry land in unprecedented ways.It allows worldwide broadcasting, global distribution of information, and it is a strong pointfor the interaction and communication of individuals without regard for geographiclocation.Thirty years ago, the States?s principal moth-eaten War think-tank, the RANDCorporation, faced a strategical dilemma how could the United States authoritiessuccessfully communicate after a nuclear war? The solution was a network of individualnodes, data processor units that would send and receive information in a random manner. If one(a) area of nodes were destroyed the message would bounce between the others. Afterthe Cold War ended, and the threat of nuclear war subsided, the potential for this?internet? was realized. Of course, in the beginning, it was small and difficult to make purposeof, but as more than corporations and different social groups began to possess powerfulcomputers, the network grew and became more useful. As with the growth of faxmachines in the early 1990?s, the Internet was only applicatory if someone else had one tocommunicate with.Today, the Internet has moved out of its genuine base in the military and researchinstitutions and into schools and learning centers, public libraries and commercial message sectors.It is now a vast system of billions of computers, not only collective and military, butpersonal as well. The Internet can be utilise for the purpose of gathering information andcommunicating. The Internet enables users to surpass the distance parapet andPage 2communicate with anyone on the face of the planet, provided that they pose plan of attack to acomputer.According to recent research, the world?s Internet community is only expanding.By the year 2002, it is estimated that 490 million people will have Internet access. At theend of this year, the United States will have 135.7 million users - that?s 36.2% of the totalworld users (CyberAtlas).L ately there has been another accession to the usefulness of the Internet, the salesof products and services. These transactions are known as e-commerce, the ?e? standingfor electronic. In 1998 a three-year moratorium dismissned the measureing of Internet use and on-line spending. Currently, a new law is looking to extend this ban another five years.There are currently 7,500 state and local anaesthetic tax systems throughout the UnitedStates. These numbers could be significantly change magnitude if state and local governments wereable to tax e-commerce. On-line businesses would be interred in costly paperwork trying tomeet the terms of conflicting tax clauses. Under the current system, it is difficult todetermine the locality from which an order was situated and it is unclear where an Internet