Difference between revisions of "Internet"

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The '''Internet''' is a global network of interconnected smaller [[computer]] networks. Although many people use term "Internet" and "[[World Wide Web]]" interchangeably, the two terms are not equivalent in meaning. The Internet and the Web are separate, but related, entities. The Internet is a massive network of networks, connecting millions of computers together globally, forming a network. On the Internet, a computer can communicate with any other computer, as long as both computers are connected to the Internet. (The World Wide Web is the collection of webpages, images, etc. which form the vast array of websites on the Internet.)
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{{dablink|For the more general networking concept, see [[computer network]], [[computer networking]], and [[internetworking]].}}
 
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<!-- The Internet and the World Wide Web are different concepts—please do not muddle them in this article -->
 
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[[Image:Internet map 1024.jpg|thumb|Visualization of the various routes through a portion of the Internet.]]
 
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{{Portal}}
 
  
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The '''Internet''' is a worldwide, publicly accessible [[telecommunications network|network]] of interconnected [[computer network]]s that transmit [[data (computing)|data]] by [[packet switching]] using the standard [[Internet Protocol]] (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, ann coulter had sex with rosie odonnell academic, business, and government networks, which together carry various [[information]] and services, such as [[e-mail|electronic mail]], [[online chat]], [[computer file|file]] transfer, and the interlinked Web pages and other documents of the [[World Wide Web]].  
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Whether the internet has an overall [[conservative]] or [[liberal]] influence is debatable.  The way that the internet enables people to circumvent [[liberal censorship]] is obviously good.  But there is much that is bad about the internet also.  Originally designed by [[DARPA]] as a [[Cold War]] weapon to combat the spread of [[Soviet]] [[communism]], it has since been dominated by ideological [[Far left|hard left]] [[Big Tech]] corporations.
  
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==History==
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Data  on the internet is transmitted between computers and networks in small packets using the Internet Protocol (IP); they are reassembled at their destination. The Internet originated in work that was funded by the Advanced Research Projects Administration (ARPA), a research funding arm of the [[Department of Defense]].
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{{main|History of the Internet}}
 
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===Creation===
 
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{{main|ARPANET}} 
 
  
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The [[Soviet Union|USSR]]'s launch of [[Sputnik]] spurred the [[United States]] to create the Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as ARPA, in February [[1958 in science|1958]] to regain a technological lead.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.darpa.mil/body/arpa_darpa.html | title=ARPA/DARPA | accessdate=2007-05-21 | publisher=Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.darpa.mil/body/overtheyears.html | title=DARPA Over the Years | accessdate=2007-05-21 | publisher=Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency}}</ref> ARPA created the [[Information Processing Technology Office]] (IPTO) to further the research of the [[Semi Automatic Ground Environment]] (SAGE) program, which had networked country-wide [[radar]] systems together for the first time. [[J. C. R. Licklider]] was selected to head the IPTO, and saw universal networking as a potential unifying human revolution.
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{{before on after|2017|12|31|It is estimated that there are about 3.5 billion people currently connected to the internet.|It is estimated that there are about 3.5 billion people currently connected to the internet.|By the end of 2016, it was estimated that there were about 3.5 billion people connected to the internet.}}<ref>http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ICTFactsFigures2016.pdf Retrieved October 3, 2017</ref> This number has been drastically increasing in recent years.
  
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Licklider had moved from the Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory at [[Harvard University]] to [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] in [[1950 in science|1950]], after becoming interested in [[information technology]]. At MIT, he served on a committee that established [[Lincoln Laboratory]] and worked on the SAGE project. In [[1957 in science|1957]] he became a Vice President at [[BBN Technologies|BBN]], where he bought the first production [[PDP-1]] computer and conducted the first public demonstration of [[time-sharing]].
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==Origin==
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The conceptual foundation for the internet's creation was significantly developed by four individuals and a research conference, each of which changed the way we thought about communication, business and the exchange of technology:
  
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At the IPTO, Licklider recruited [[Lawrence Roberts (scientist)|Lawrence Roberts]] to head a project to implement a network, and Roberts based the technology on the work of [[Paul Baran]] who had written an exhaustive study for the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]] that recommended [[packet switching]] (as opposed to [[circuit switching]]) to make a network highly robust and survivable. After much faggots work, the first node went live at [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] on [[October 29]] [[1969]] on what would be called the [[ARPANET]], one of the "eve" networks of today's Internet. Following on from this, the [[General Post Office (United Kingdom)|British Post Office]], [[Western Union|Western Union International]] and [[Tymnet]] collaborated to create the first international packet switched network, referred to as the [[International Packet Switched Service]] (IPSS), in [[1978 in science|1978]]. This network grew from Europe and the US to cover [[Canada]], [[Hong Kong]] and [[Australia]] by 1981.
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*Vannevar Bush wrote the first description of the potential uses for information technology with his description of the "memex" automated library system.  
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*Norbert Wiener invented the field of Cybernetics, encouraging future researchers to focus on the use of technology to extend human capabilities.  
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*The 1956 Dartmouth Artificial Intelligence conference defined the concept that technology was improving at an exponential rate, and provided the first serious consideration of the consequences, the benefits and advantages or such a network.
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*[[Marshall McLuhan]] made the idea of a [[global village]] interconnected by an electronic nervous system part of our popular culture.<ref>http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii.htm</ref>
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*Ethan K. Heinz (cousin of Teresa Heinz), in 1969, created a network named ARPANet. ARPANet was developed in the US as a means for various research universities and government facilities to "talk" or communicate with each other, even in an event such as war.<ref>[http://www.internetisseriousbusiness.com]</ref> ARPANet grew quickly and eventually evolved into today's Internet. Today, the Internet is a public, cooperative, and self-sustaining facility that can be accessed by hundreds of millions of people worldwide; the Internet has grown into a worldwide computer network where anyone can have a chat with anyone else almost anywhere in the world, and is a vast source of free information.
  
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The first [[Internet protocol suite|TCP/IP]]-wide area network was operational by [[January 1]] [[1983]], when the United States' [[National Science Foundation]] (NSF) constructed a [[university]] network backbone that would later become the [[NSFNet]].
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==Description==
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The Internet is sometimes also known as "[[cyberspace]]." Most users are familiar with web pages throughout the [[World Wide Web]], constructed with [[HTML]]. The Web is facilitated primarily by two of the numerous protocols which operate on the Internet. There are also other services such as [[email]] (using POP, SMTP, and/or IMAP protocols), [[FTP|file transfer]] (using FTP), instant messaging (using IRC or other protocols), and many other services.  
  
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It was then followed by the opening of the network to commercial interests in 1985. Important, separate networks that offered gateways into, then later merged with, the NSFNet include [[Usenet]], [[BITNET]] and the various commercial and educational networks, such as [[X.25]], [[Compuserve]] and [[JANET]]. [[Telenet]] (later called Sprintnet) was a large privately-funded national computer network with free [[dial-up access]] in cities throughout the U.S. that had been in operation since the 1970s. This network eventually merged with the others in the 1990s as the TCP/IP protocol became increasingly popular. The ability of TCP/IP to work over these pre-existing communication networks, especially the international X.25 IPSS network, allowed for a great ease of growth. Use of the term "Internet" to describe a single global TCP/IP network originated around this time.
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The common protocol used to access websites (including this one) is the Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The creator of this is [[Sir Tim Berners-Lee]], who also in an online magazine article claimed that given the opportunity, he wouldn't use the HTTP format for websites. Berners-Lee is currently the director of the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium).<br />
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To help protect Web communication, the Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) was developed as an offshoot from HTTP. It uses point-to-point encryption to prevent interception of exploitable information and to help verify authenticity.  
  
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===Growth===
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[[Ted Stevens]] famously referred to the internet as "a series of tubes" during a panel on [[network neutrality]]. While the statement was technically inaccurate, it is a reasonable depiction of the internet as an interconnected system to a lay person.  
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The network gained a public face in the 1990s. On [[August 6]] [[1991]], [[CERN]], which straddles the border between [[France]] and [[Switzerland]], publicized the new [[World Wide Web]] project, two years after [[Tim Berners-Lee]] had begun creating [[HTML]], [[Hypertext Transfer Protocol|HTTP]] and the first few Web pages at CERN.
 
  
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An early popular [[web browser]] was ''[[ViolaWWW]]'' based upon [[HyperCard]]. It was eventually replaced in popularity by the [[Mosaic (web browser)|Mosaic]] web browser. In 1993 the [[National Center for Supercomputing Applications]] at the [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign|University of Illinois]] cum in mouth released version 1.0 of ''Mosaic'', and by late 1994 there was growing public interest in the previously academic/technical Internet. By 1996 the word "Internet" was coming into common daily usage, frequently misused to refer to the [[World Wide Web]].
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The internet is formed from two basic elements, routers and connections. A router is basically a computer that acts like a switching station, similar to the pumping stations of public water utilities. The connections are the pipes themselves, acting as a means to move packets from one router to another, and eventually from server to client.
  
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Meanwhile, over the course of the decade, the Internet successfully accommodated the majority of previously existing public computer networks (although some networks, such as [[FidoNet]], have remained separate) During the 1990s, it was estimated that the Internet grew by 100% per year, with a brief period of explosive growth in 1996 and 1997.<ref>{{cite paper | url=http://www.dtc.umn.edu/~odlyzko/doc/internet.size.pdf | title=The size and growth rate of the Internet | accessdate=2007-05-21 | author=Coffman, K. G; Odlyzko, A. M. | publisher=AT&T Labs | date=1998-10-02}}</ref> This growth is often attributed to the lack of central administration, which allows organic growth of the network, as well as the non-proprietary open nature of the Internet protocols, which encourages vendor interoperability and prevents any one company from exerting too much control over the network.
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===TCP/IP===
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TCP/IP is the basic communication language or protocol of the Internet. Two more recent adaptations of Internet technology, the intranet and the extranet, also use [[TCP/IP]].
  
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==Today's Internet==
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===Ownership of the Internet===
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It is true that the Internet is more a concept than an actual tangible entity. However, the Internet still relies on a physical infrastructure that connects networks to other networks. Access to the Internet is controlled by [[telephone]] companies, because telephone companies own many of the infrastructure backbones and most of the connectivity hardware; however, no one actually owns the Internet, and no single person or organization controls the Internet in its entirety. There are many organizations, corporations, governments, schools, private citizens, and service providers that all own and control pieces of the infrastructure.
  
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[[Image:My Opera Server.jpg|thumb|A rack of servers]]
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==Controversy==
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Aside from the complex physical connections that make up its infrastructure, the Internet is facilitated by bi- or multi-lateral commercial contracts (e.g., [[peering agreement]]s), and by technical specifications or [[communications protocol|protocol]]s that describe how to exchange [[data]] over the network. Indeed, the Internet is essentially defined by its interconnections and routing policies.
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Although the Internet has been shown to contain valuable information, it also contains pornographic or otherwise vulgar material. Therefore, some conservatives would like to see tighter controls on the Internet which would limit what can be hosted and what can be downloaded. At present, the internet does not filter of block traffic of any sort—the principal behind it is that everything is accessible to anyone. However, governing authorities still have the ability to prosecute illegal activity, and in come extreme cases, even block it outright.
  
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As of [[June 10]] [[2007]], 1.133 billion people use the Internet according to [http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm Internet World Stats]. Writing in the Harvard International Review, philosopher N.J.Slabbert, a writer on policy issues for the Washington DC-based Urban Land Institute, has asserted that the Internet is fast becoming a basic feature of global civilization, so that what has wet ass traditionally been called "civil society" is now becoming identical with information technology society as defined by Internet use. <ref>Slabbert,N.J. The Technologies of Peace, Harvard International Review, June 2006.</ref>  
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In 1999, [[Democratic]] presidential candidate [[Al Gore]] misspoke when intending to take partial credit for the development of the internet when he referenced his High Performance [[Computing]] and Communication Act of 1991, commonly known as the "Gore Bill":<ref>https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/03/09/president.2000/transcript.gore/</ref>
  
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===Internet protocols===
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:CNN's WOLF BLITZER: I want to get to some of the substance of domestic and international issues in a minute, but let's just wrap up a little bit of the politics right now.
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{{details|Internet Protocols}}
 
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In this context, there are three layers of protocols:
 
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* At the lower level (OSI layer 3) is '''[[Internet Protocol|IP]]''' (Internet Protocol), which defines the datagrams or [[packet]]s that carry blocks of data from one node to another. The vast majority of today's Internet uses version four of the IP protocol (i.e. [[IPv4]]), and although [[IPv6]] is standardized, it exists only as "islands" of connectivity, and there are many ISPs without any IPv6 connectivity. [http://www.livinginternet.com]. '''[[Internet Control Message Protocol|ICMP]]''' (Internet Control Message Protocol) also exists at this level. ICMP is connectionless; it is used for control, signaling, and error reporting purposes.
 
  
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* '''[[Transmission Control Protocol|TCP]]''' (Transmission Control Protocol) and '''[[User Datagram Protocol|UDP]]''' (User Datagram Protocol) exist at the next layer up (OSI layer 4); these are the protocols by which data is transmitted. TCP makes a virtual 'connection', which gives some level of guarantee of reliability. UDP is a best-effort, connectionless transport, in which data packets that are lost in transit will not be re-sent.
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:Why should Democrats, looking at the Democratic nomination process, support you instead of Bill Bradley, a friend of yours, a former colleague in the Senate? What do you have to bring to this that he doesn't necessarily bring to this process?
  
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* The '''[[Application layer|application protocols]]''', sit on top of TCP and UDP and occupy layers 5, 6, and 7 of the OSI model. These defines the specific messages and data formats sent and understood by the applications running at each end of the communication. Examples of these protocols are HTTP, FTP, and SMTP.
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:AL GORE: Well, I will be offering -- I'll be offering my vision when my campaign begins. And it will be comprehensive and sweeping. And I hope that it will be compelling enough to draw people toward it. I feel that it will be.
  
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* There is another protocol (in layer 2 of the OSI model) below IP. This is rarely talked about, and is probably PPP (anyone fill in more details on this?).  Of course on LANs this protocol is nearly always Ethernet.
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:But it will emerge from my dialogue with the American people. I've traveled to every part of this country during the last six years. During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system.
  
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===Internet structure===
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In response to [[Al Gore]]'s comments, [[Robert Kahn]] and [[Vinton Cerf]], the two men responsible for the creation of the [[TCP/IP]] protocol which the internet uses for most of its communication and two men often credited as the creators of the internet along with [[Sir Tim Berners-Lee]], said the following:
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There have been many analyses of the Internet and its structure. For example, it has been determined that the Internet IP routing structure and hypertext links of the World Wide Web are examples of [[scale-free network]]s.
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<blockquote>
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<p>Al Gore was the first political leader to recognize the importance of the Internet and to promote and support its development.</p>
  
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Similar to the way the commercial lick Internet providers connect via [[Internet exchange point]]s, research networks tend to interconnect into large subnetworks such as:
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<p>No one person or even small group of persons exclusively “invented” the Internet. It is the result of many years of ongoing collaboration among people in government and the university community.  But as the two people who designed the basic architecture and the core protocols that make the Internet work, we would like to acknowledge VP Gore’s contributions as a Congressman, Senator and as Vice President.  No other elected official, to our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over a longer period of time.</p>
  
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*[[GEANT]]
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<p>Last year the Vice President made a straightforward statement on his role.  He said: "During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the Internet."  We don't think, as some people have argued, that Gore intended to claim he "invented" the Internet. Moreover, there is no question in our minds that while serving as Senator, Gore's initiatives had a significant and beneficial effect on the still-evolving Internet. The fact of the matter is that Gore was talking about and promoting the Internet long before most people were listening.<ref>http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200009/msg00052.html</ref></p>
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*[[GLORIAD]]
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</blockquote>
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*[[Abilene Network]]
 
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*[[JANET]] (the UK's Joint Academic Network aka UKERNA)
 
  
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These in turn are built around relatively smaller networks. See also the list of [[:Category:Academic computer network organizations|academic computer network organizations]]
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Their letter continued to go on to enumerate Al Gore's involvement in the early periods of the internet.
  
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In [[network diagram]]s, the Internet is often represented by a cloud symbol, into and out of which network communications can pass.
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Another controversial issue in regards to the internet is the presence of [[liberal bias]] that can be noticed throughout the World Wide Web. Many examples exist of [[conservative]] information being [[censor]]ed, while [[liberal]] fallacies are promoted.  
  
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===ICANN===
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===Pornography for children===
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{{details|ICANN}}
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Studies have shown that 90% of children have been exposed to pornography, with the average age of exposure being 11 years old.<ref>http://www.healthymind.com/s-porn-stats.html</ref> Many countries have attempted to take steps to keep underage children from viewing pornographic material. [[Australia]] has taken the important step of requiring [[internet service providers]] to use web filters to keep inappropriate material from being displayed in houses and schools.<ref>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/31/2129471.htm</ref> Australia had also considered mandatory internet filtering, however this bold move was recently struck down by their current  government.<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/9665983/Australia-scraps-plan-to-filter-internet.html</ref> This effort is being blocked by civil liberties groups (such as the [[American Civil Liberties Union]]) who believe that pornagrophy should be considered [[free speech]], and therefore not under the jurisdiction of the government.
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'''The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)''' is the authority that coordinates the assignment of unique identifiers on the Internet, including [[domain name]]s, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, and protocol port and parameter numbers. A globally unified namespace (i.e., a system of names in which there is one and only one holder of each name) is essential for the Internet to function. ICANN is headquartered in [[Marina del Rey, California]], but is overseen by an international board of directors drawn from across the Internet technical, business, academic, and non-commercial communities. The US government continues to have the primary role in approving changes to the [[DNS root zone|root zone]] file that lies at the heart of the domain name system. Because the Internet is a distributed network comprising many voluntarily interconnected networks, the Internet, as such, has no governing body. ICANN's role in coordinating the hot ass assignment of unique identifiers distinguishes it as perhaps the only central coordinating body on the global Internet, but the scope of its authority extends only to the Internet's systems of domain names, [[IP address]]es, and protocol port and parameter numbers.
 
  
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On [[November 16]] [[2005]], the [[World Summit on the Information Society]], held in [[Tunis]], established the [[Internet Governance Forum]] (IGF) to discuss Internet-related issues.
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Currently many private companies offer software-based web filtering for home use. [[Public school]]s in many US states are required to employ web filters. Most [[private schools]], and employers also choose to use web filters.  Some [[libraries]] also employ filters, but most do not because they see it as censorship which most librarians unilaterally oppose.
  
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===Language===
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===Security===
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{{details|English on the Internet}}
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It also has become a common facilitator of crime.  By the end of 2016, cybercrime rose thew the second most reported financial crime.<ref>PWC Global Economic Crime Survey 2016</ref> Almost 40% of all known data breaches in 2016 involved the theft of financial information. Additionally, about 1 in 131 emails sent in 2016 were cyber attacks, about a 3% increase from the year before. Businesses are being especially targeted as well, with over half of 2016's inbound messages being spam, and just over 1% containing malware.<ref name="SISTR">Symantec Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR) volume 22 - 2017</ref> With these ever-increasing threats, some question whether the current internet system is designed well enough to be safe, or should be changed to offer better security.  Such a change would go against the founding idea of uncontrolled information exchange, however.
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{{further|[[Unicode]]}}
 
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The prevalent language for communication on the Internet is [[English language|English]]. This may be a result of the Internet's origins, as well as English's role as the [[lingua franca]]. It may also be related to the poor capability of early computers to handle characters other than those in the basic [[Latin alphabet]].  
 
  
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After English (30% of Web visitors) the most-requested languages on the [[World Wide Web]] are [[Chinese language|Chinese]] 14%, [[Japanese language|Japanese]] 8%, [[Spanish language|Spanish]] 8%, [[German language|German]] 5%, [[French language|French]] 5%, [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] 3.5%, [[Korean language|Korean]] 3%, [[Italian language|Italian]] 3% and [[Arabic language|Arabic]] 2.5% (from [http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm Internet World Stats], updated January 11, 2007).
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=== Potential negative changes in personality ===
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<!-- Note that the use of these copyright statistics is dependent on "giving due credit and establishing an active link back to www.internetworldstats.com", so please do not remove the citation above -->
 
  
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By continent, 36% of the world's man sex Internet users are based in [[Asia]], 29% in [[Europe]], and 21% in [[North America]] ([http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm] updated January 11, 2007).
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*[https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1953811277463122162 Is the internet changing our personalities for the worst?]
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<!-- Note that the use of these copyright statistics is dependent on "giving due credit and establishing an active link back to www.internetworldstats.com", so please do not remove the citation above -->
 
  
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The Internet's technologies have developed enough in recent years that good facilities are available for development and communication in most widely used languages. However, some glitches such as ''[[mojibake]]'' (incorrect display of foreign language characters, also known as ''kryakozyabry'') still remain.
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== Christian internet evangelism ==
  
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===Internet and the workplace===
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''See also:'' [[Internet evangelism]]
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The Internet is allowing greater flexibility in working hours and location, especially with the spread of unmetered high-speed connections and [[Web application]]s.
 
  
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===The mobile Internet===
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[[File:Hong Kong Christians at Gateway Camp.jpg|thumbnail|right|250px|[[Hong Kong]] Christians at Gateway Camp. In 2005, there were four times as many non-Western World Christians as there were [[Western World]] Christians.<ref>[https://www.wnd.com/?pageId=30077 Is Christianity taking over the planet?]</ref>
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The Internet can now be accessed virtually anywhere by numerous means. [[Mobile phone]]s, [[datacard]]s, [[handheld]] [[game console]]s and [[cellular router]]s allow users to connect to the Internet from anywhere there is a cellular network supporting that device's technology.
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See also: [[Global Christianity]] ]]
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[[Internet evangelism]] is, as the name suggests, the process of evangelizing and spreading the gospel using the internet.<br />
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Since its inception, [[Christianity]] has seen a consistent and [http://users.adam.com.au/bstett/BChristianIncrease12.htm dramatic increase in its number of adherents].<ref>http://users.adam.com.au/bstett/BChristianIncrease12.htm</ref><ref>http://pewforum.org/Christian/Faith-and-Conflict-The-Global-Rise-of-Christianity.aspx</ref>  In the 1940s the Lausanne Movement was started in order to help Christendom evangelize globally with greater effectiveness and thousands of Christian leaders from around the globe meet regularly to increase the effectiveness of [[evangelism|Christian evangelism]].<ref>http://www.lausanne.org/about.html</ref>
  
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==Common uses of the Internet==
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[[CRU]] is one of the world's largest evangelism organizations within Christendom and has over 25,000 full-time missionaries. In 2006, Alan Beeber of CRU predicted that internet evangelism will result in more conversion that all other forms of evangelism for CRU combined.<ref>http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/pdf/issues/LWP0206.pdf</ref> Internet evangelism is effective at spreading [[Global Christianity|Christianity globally]] - especially in countries where there is [[Christian persecution]] and evangelism is more difficult.  
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===E-mail===
 
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{{details|E-mail}}
 
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The concept of sending electronic text messages between parties in a way analogous to mailing letters or memos predates the creation of the Internet. Even today it can be important to distinguish between Internet and internal e-mail systems. Internet e-mail may travel and be stored unencrypted on many other networks and machines out of both the sender's and the recipient's control. During this time it is quite possible for the content to be read and even tampered with by third parties, if anyone considers it important enough. Purely internal or intranet mail systems, where the information never leaves the corporate or organization's network, are much more secure, although in any organization there will be [[information technology|IT]] and other personnel whose job may involve monitoring, and occasionally accessing, the email of other employees not addressed to them. [[Web-based email]] (webmail) between parties on the same webmail system my penus goes into your anus may not actually 'go' anywhere—it merely sits on the one [[server (computing)|server]] and is tagged in various ways so as to appear in one person's 'sent items' list and in others' 'in boxes' or other 'folders' when viewed.
 
  
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===The World Wide Web===
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The Christian internet evangelism organization [[Global Media Outreach]] indicates that as of September 2019 over 1,900,000,000 "gospel visits" have occured via their websites.<ref> [https://web.archive.org/web/20190921082643/https://globalmediaoutreach.com/impact Global Media Outreach - Impact]</ref> Global Media Outreach works with many Christians around the world (see: [[Global atheism]]).
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{{details|World Wide Web}}[[Image:WorldWideWebAroundWikipedia.png|thumb|300px|Graphic representation of less than 0.0001% of the [[World Wide Web|WWW]], representing some of the [[hyperlink]]s]]
 
  
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Many people use the terms Internet and World Wide Web (a.k.a. the Web) interchangeably, but in fact the two terms are not synonymous. The Internet and the Web are two separate but related things.
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The Christian internet evangelism organization [[Network211]] indicates that as of September 2019, over 37,000,000 web visits have occured on their websites.<ref>[https://network211.com/stats/ Network211 - visits]</ref> Network211 works with many Christians/churches throughout the world.
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The Internet is a massive network of networks, a networking infrastructure. It connects millions of computers together globally, forming a network in which any computer can communicate with any other computer as long as they are both connected to the Internet. Information that travels over the Internet does so via a variety of languages known as protocols.  
 
  
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The World Wide Web, or simply Web, is a way of accessing information over the medium of the Internet. It is an information-sharing model that is built on top of the Internet. The Web uses the HTTP protocol, only one of the languages spoken over the Internet, to transmit data. Web services, which use HTTP to allow applications to communicate in order to exchange business logic, use the the Web to share information. The Web also utilizes browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape, to access Web documents called Web pages that are linked to each other via hyperlinks. Web documents also contain graphics, sounds, text and video.  
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There are other significant Christian internet evangelism efforts as well. For example, the [[Billy Graham]] Association is also active in internet evangelism.<ref>[https://billygraham.org/what-we-do/evangelism-outreach/internet-evangelism/about/ Billy Graham Association - Internet evangelism]</ref>
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[[File:Franklin Graham.jpg|thumbnail|left|200px|[[Franklin Graham]] is the president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.]] 
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In 2022, the [[Billy Graham]] Evangelism Association announced:
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{{Cquote|Launched in 2012, Search for Jesus impacts website users with the truth of the Gospel and relies on a network of over 1,400 trained volunteers who interact with users and answer live questions. With a mission to reach those hurting and in need, Search for Jesus utilizes the accessibility of the internet to reach places otherwise closed to the Gospel.
  
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The Web is just one of the ways that information can be disseminated over the Internet. The Internet, not the Web, is also used for e-mail, which relies on SMTP, Usenet news groups, instant messaging, file sharing (text, image, video, [http://www.mp3-indir.gen.tr mp3] etc.) and FTP. So the Web is just a portion of the Internet, albeit a large portion, but the two terms are not synonymous and should not be confused.  
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Using these digital tools, more than 300 million people have indicated a decision for Christ and received follow-up through the internet ministry. To date, the PeaceWithGod.net websites have welcomed over 100 million online users. With messages in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic, American Sign Language, and Russian, Search for Jesus has been able to expand globally and cross language and accessibility barriers.
  
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Through [[keyword (Internet search)|keyword]]-driven [[Internet research]] using [[search engine]]s, like [[Google (search engine)|Google]], millions worldwide have easy, instant access to a vast and diverse amount of online information. Compared to [[encyclopedia]]s and traditional [[library|libraries]], the homo sex World Wide Web has enabled a sudden and extreme decentralization of information and data.
+
“This is significant because we’re following Billy Graham’s legacy of spreading the Gospel across the globe using every opportunity we have. The average person spends nearly seven hours a day on the internet, so we want to meet these people where they are,” said Mark Appleton, director of internet evangelism for BGEA, in a press release. “Search for Jesus has given us the chance to spread the Gospel like never before.”<ref>[https://nrb.org/articles/billy-graham-evangelistic-association-marks-10-years-of-internet-evangelism-ministry-search-for-jesus/ BGEA Marks 10 Years of Internet Evangelism Ministry ‘Search for Jesus’], National Religious Broadcasters website</ref>}}
  
−
Many individuals and some companies and groups have adopted the use of "Web logs" or [[blog]]s, which are largely used as easily-updatable online diaries. Some commercial organizations encourage staff to fill them with advice on 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. One example of this practice is [[Microsoft]], whose product [[software developer|developers]] publish their personal blogs in order to pique the public's interest in their work.
+
The Billy Graham Evangelism Association says about its desire for volunteers for its internet evangelism program:
 +
{{Cquote|People around the world are searching for answers online. Many find hope through Search for Jesus. Would you join us to make a lasting impact for God’s kingdom and see lives changed by Christ? You can serve with us as an online counselor, discipleship coach, or email responder, or get your church involved. If you have a heart for sharing the Gospel, an Internet connection and a few hours a week, consider making Search for Jesus your own personal ministry–a way for God to use you by reaching hurting people around the world in their time of need.<ref>[https://billygraham.org/what-we-do/evangelism-outreach/internet-evangelism/about/ Biiy Graham Association - Internet evangelism]</ref>}}
  
−
For more information on the distinction between the World Wide Web and the Internet itself—as in everyday use the two are sometimes confused—see [[Dark internet]] where this is discussed in more detail.
+
The ''Christian Post'' states:
 +
{{Cquote|Online evangelism is producing real disciples for Christ, according to a recent study.
  
−
===Remote access===
+
Over half of those who made a decision for Jesus over the Internet have subsequently shared their faith with others, Global Media Outreach's study reveals.
−
The Internet allows computer users to connect to other computers and information stores easily, wherever they may be across the world. They may do this with or without the use of [[Computer security|security]], authentication and encryption technologies, depending on the requirements.
 
  
−
This is encouraging new ways of working from home, collaboration and information sharing in many industries. An [[accountancy|accountant]] sitting at home can [[audit]] the books of a company based in another country, on a [[server (computing)|server]] situated in a third country that is remotely maintained by ass IT specialists in a fourth. These accounts could have been created by home-working book-keepers, in other remote locations, based on information e-mailed to them from offices all over the world. Some of these things were possible before the widespread use of the Internet, but the cost of private, [[leased line]]s would have made many of them infeasible in practice.
+
Additionally, 34 percent read their Bibles daily and nearly half pray for at least 10 minutes a day...
  
−
An office worker away from his desk, perhaps the other side of the world on a business trip or a holiday, can open a [[Remote Desktop Protocol|remote desktop]] session into their normal office PC using a secure [[Virtual Private Network]] (VPN) connection via the Internet. This gives the worker complete access to all of their normal files and data, including e-mail and other applications, while away from the office.
+
The study, called the Christian Growth Index, measured the responses of more than 100,000 people from around the world...
  
−
This concept is also referred to by some network security people as the Virtual Private Nightmare, because it extends the secure perimeter of a corporate network into its employees' homes; this has been the source of some notable security breaches, but also provides security for the workers.
+
Fifty-one percent of those surveyed said they shared their faith three times or more and 37 percent said they shared their faith at least once or twice.
  
−
===Collaboration===
+
Global Media Outreach is a global ministry that presents the Gospel online through websites such as WhoisJesus-Really.com and GrowinginChrist.com. There are more than 5,500 trained online missionaries worldwide who respond to questions asked by seekers through emails.<ref>[https://www.christianpost.com/news/study-reveals-internet-evangelism-is-effective.html Study Reveals Internet Evangelism Is Effective], ''Christian Post''</ref>}}
−
{{seealso|Collaborative software}}
 
  
−
The low-cost and nearly instantaneous sharing of ideas, knowledge, and skills has made [[collaboration|collaborative]] work dramatically easier. Not only can a group cheaply communicate and test, but the wide reach of the Internet allows such groups to easily form in the first place, even among niche interests. An example of this is the [[free software movement]] in software development which produced [[GNU]] and [[Linux]] from scratch and has taken over development of [[Mozilla]] and [[OpenOffice.org]] (formerly known as [[Netscape Communicator]] and [[StarOffice]]).
+
Also, many churches stream their services online in real-time and/or provide them on a platform (such as Facebook or YouTube). This is not only for the benefit of members who cannot attend services due to illness or old age, as well as people who live in areas with no Bible-believing church nearby, but also for visitors who want to check out what the church believes and how it conducts services before deciding whether to visit in person and ultimately become members.
  
−
Internet 'chat', whether in the form of [[IRC]] 'chat rooms' or channels, or via [[instant messaging]] systems allow colleagues to stay in touch in a very convenient way when working at their computers during the day.  Messages can be sent and viewed even more quickly and conveniently than via e-mail. Extension phuck phuck to these systems may allow files to be exchanged, 'whiteboard' drawings to be shared as well as voice and video contact between team members.
+
== Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world ==
  
−
[[Version control]] systems allow collaborating teams to work on shared sets of documents without either accidentally overwriting each other's work or having members wait until they get 'sent' documents to be able to add their thoughts and changes.
+
See: [[Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world]]
−
 
 
−
===File sharing===
 
−
{{details|File sharing}}
 
−
 
 
−
A [[computer file]] can be [[Electronic mail|e-mailed]] to customers, colleagues and friends as an [[E-mail attachment|attachment]]. It can be uploaded to a [[Web site]] 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 (computing)|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 before or after access to the file is given. The price can be paid by the remote charging of funds from, for example a [[credit card]] whose details are also passed—hopefully fully encrypted—across the Internet. The origin and authenticity of the file received may be checked by [[digital signature]]s or by [[MD5]] or other message digests.
 
−
 
 
−
These simple features of the Internet, over a world-wide basis, are changing the basis for the production, sale, and distribution of anything that can be reduced to a computer file for transmission. This includes all manner of office documents, publications, software products, [[music]], photography, video, animations, graphics and the other arts. This in turn is causing seismic shifts in each of the existing industry associations, such as the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]] and [[Motion Picture Association of America|MPAA]] in the United States, that previously controlled the production and distribution of these products in that country.
 
−
 
 
−
===Streaming media===
 
−
Many existing radio and television broadcasters provide Internet 'feeds' of their live audio and video streams (for example, the [[BBC#Internet|BBC]]). 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 on-line media in much the same way as was previously possible only with a [[television]] or [[radio]] receiver. The range of material is much wider, from [[pornography]] to highly specialized technical Web-casts. [[Podcast]]ing is a variation on this theme, where—usually audio—material is first downloaded in full and then may be played back on a computer or shifted to a [[digital audio 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 on a worldwide basis.
 
−
 
 
−
[[Webcam]]s can be seen as an even lower-budget extension of this phenomenon. While some webcams can give full frame rate video, the picture is usually either small or updates slowly. Internet users can watch animals around an African waterhole, ships in the [[Panama Canal]], the traffic at a local roundabout or their own woman groin bag premises, live and in real time. Video [[chat rooms]], [[video conferencing]], and remote controllable webcams are also popular. Many uses can be found for personal webcams in and around the home, with and without two-way sound.
 
−
 
 
−
===Voice telephony (VoIP)===
 
−
{{details|VoIP}}
 
−
VoIP stands for Voice over IP, where [[Internet Protocol|IP]] refers to the Internet Protocol that underlies all Internet communication. This phenomenon began as an optional two-way voice extension to some of the [[Instant Messaging]] systems that took off around the year 2000. In recent years many VoIP systems have become as easy to use and as convenient as a normal telephone. The benefit is that, as the Internet carries the actual voice traffic, VoIP can be free or cost much less than a normal telephone call, especially over long distances and especially for those with always-on [[ADSL]] or [[Digital Subscriber Line|DSL]] Internet connections.
 
−
 
 
−
Thus VoIP is maturing into a viable alternative to traditional telephones. Interoperability between different providers has improved and the ability to call or receive a call from a traditional telephone is available. Simple inexpensive VoIP modems are now available that eliminate the need for a PC.
 
−
 
 
−
Voice quality can still vary from call to call but is often equal to and can even exceed that of traditional calls.
 
−
 
 
−
Remaining problems for VoIP include [[emergency telephone number]] dialing and reliability. Currently a few VoIP providers provide some 911 dialing but it is not universally available. Traditional phones are line powered and operate during a power failure, VoIP does not do so without a [[uninterruptible power supply|backup power source]] for the electronics.
 
−
 
 
−
Most VoIP providers offer unlimited national calling but the direction in VoIP is clearly toward global coverage with unlimited minutes for a low monthly fee.
 
−
 
 
−
VoIP has also become increasingly popular within the gaming world, as a form of communication between players. Popular gaming VoIP clients include [[Ventrilo]] and [[Teamspeak]], and there are others available also.
 
−
 
 
−
==Censorship==
 
−
{{details|Internet censorship}}
 
−
 
 
−
Some governments, such as those of [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Iran]], [[North Korea]], the [[People's Republic of China]] and [[Cuba]], restrict what people in their countries can access on the Internet, especially political and religious content. This is accomplished through software that filters domains and content so that they go lick satan pussy lickers may not be easily accessed or obtained without elaborate circumvention.
 
−
 
 
−
In [[Norway]], [[Finland]] and [[Sweden]], major Internet service providers have voluntarily (possibly to avoid such an arrangement being turned into law) agreed to restrict access to sites listed by police. While this list of forbidden URLs is only supposed to contain addresses of known child pornography sites, the content of the list is secret.{{Fact|date=April 2007}}
 
−
 
 
−
Many countries have enacted laws making the possession or distribution of certain material, such as [[child pornography]], illegal, but do not use filtering software.
 
−
 
 
−
There are many free and commercially available software programs with which a user can choose to block offensive Web sites on individual computers or networks, such as to limit a child's access to pornography or violence. See ''[[Content-control software]]''.
 
−
 
 
−
==Internet access==
 
−
{{details|Internet access}}
 
−
{{wikibookspar||Online linux connect}}
 
−
Common methods of home access include [[dial-up access|dial-up]], landline [[Broadband Internet access|broadband]] (over coaxial cable, fibre optic or copper wires), [[Wi-Fi]], [[Satellite Internet|satellite]] and technology 3G (EVDO) [[mobile phone|cell phones]].
 
−
 
 
−
[[Public place]]s to use the Internet include libraries and [[Internet cafe]]s, where computers with Internet connections are available. There are also Internet access points in many public places such as airport halls and coffee shops, in some cases just for brief use while standing. Various terms are used, such as "public Internet kiosk", "public access terminal", and "Web [[payphone]]". Many hotels now also have public terminals, though these are usually fee-based.
 
−
 
 
−
Wi-Fi provides wireless access to computer networks, and therefore can do so to the Internet itself. [[Hotspot (Wi-Fi)|Hotspots]] providing such access include [[Wi-Fi#Commercial Wi-Fi|Wi-Fi-cafes]], where a would-be user needs to bring their own wireless-enabled devices such as a [[laptop]] or [[Personal Digital Assistant|PDA]]. These services may be free to all, free to customers only, or fee-based. A hotspot need not be phuck limited to a confined location. The whole campus or park, or even the entire city can be enabled. [[Grassroots]] efforts have led to [[wireless community network]]s. Commercial WiFi services covering large city areas are in place in [[London]], [[Vienna]], [[Toronto]], [[San Francisco]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Chicago]] and [[Pittsburgh]]. The Internet can then be accessed from such places as a park bench.<ref>[http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aQ0ZfhMa4XGQ&refer=canada "Toronto Hydro to Install Wireless Network in Downtown Toronto"]. Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 19-Mar-2006.</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
Apart from Wi-Fi, there have been experiments with proprietary mobile wireless networks like [[Ricochet (internet service)|Ricochet]], various high-speed data services over cellular phone networks, and fixed wireless services.
 
−
 
 
−
High-end mobile phones such as [[smartphone]]s generally come with Internet access through the phone network. Web browsers such as [[Opera (browser)|Opera]] are available on these advanced handsets, which can also run a wide variety of other Internet software. More mobile phones have Internet access than PCs, though this is not as widely used. An Internet access provider and protocol matrix differentiates the methods used to get online.
 
−
 
 
−
==Leisure==
 
−
The Internet has been a major source of leisure since before the World Wide Web, with entertaining social experiments such as [[MUD]]s and [[MOO]]s being conducted on university servers, and humor-related [[Usenet]] groups receiving much of the main traffic. Today, many [[Internet forum]]s have sections devoted ass wipe to games and funny videos; short cartoons in the form of [[Flash animation|Flash movies]] are also popular. Over 6 million people use blogs or message boards as a means of communication and for the sharing of ideas.
 
−
 
 
−
The [[pornography]] and [[gambling]] industries have both taken full advantage of the World Wide Web, and often provide a significant source of advertising revenue for other Web sites. Although many governments have attempted to put restrictions on both industries' use of the Internet, this has generally failed to stop their widespread popularity. A song in the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway musical]] show ''[[Avenue Q]]'' is titled "[[The Internet is for Porn]]" and refers to the popularity of this aspect of the Internet.
 
−
 
 
−
One main area of leisure on the Internet is [[multiplayer gaming]]. This form of leisure creates communities, bringing people of all ages and origins to enjoy the fast-paced world of multiplayer games. These range from [[MMORPG]] to [[first-person shooter]]s, from [[computer role-playing game|role-playing games]] to [[online gambling]]. This has revolutionized the way many people interact and spend their free time on the Internet.
 
−
 
 
−
While online gaming has been around since the 1970s, modern modes of online gaming began with services such as [[GameSpy Arcade|GameSpy]] and [[MPlayer.com|MPlayer]], which players of games would typically subscribe to. Non-subscribers were limited to certain types of gameplay or certain games.
 
−
 
 
−
Many use the Internet to access and download music, movies and other works for their enjoyment and relaxation. As discussed above, there are paid and unpaid sources for all of these, using centralized servers and distributed peer-to-peer technologies. Discretion is needed as some of these sources take more care over the original artists' rights and over copyright laws than others.
 
−
 
 
−
Many use the World Wide Web to access news, weather and sports reports, to plan and book holidays and to find out more about their random ideas and casual interests.
 
−
 
 
−
People use [[Internet Relay Chat|chat]], [[instant messaging|messaging]] and email to make and stay in touch with friends worldwide, sometimes in the same way as some previously had [[pen pal]]s. Social networking Web sites like [[Friends Reunited]] and many others like them also put and keep people in contact for their enjoyment.
 
−
 
 
−
The Internet has seen a growing amount of [[Internet operating systems]], where users can access their files, folders, and settings via the Internet. An example of an [[opensource]] webOS is [[Eyeos]].
 
−
 
 
−
[[Cyberslacking]] has become a serious drain on corporate resources; the average UK employee spends 57 minutes a day surfing the Web at work, according to a study by [[Peninsula Business Services]] [http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=914&id=1001802003].
 
−
 
 
−
==Complex architecture ==
 
−
Many computer scientists see the Internet as a "prime example of a large-scale, highly engineered, yet highly [[complex system]]".<ref>Walter Willinger, Ramesh Govindan, Sugih Jamin, Vern Paxson, and Scott Shenker (2002). [http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/99/suppl_1/2573 Scaling phenomena in the Internet]. In ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99'', suppl. 1, 2573–2580.</ref> The Internet conservatives suck is extremely heterogeneous. (For instance, [[data transfer rate]]s and physical characteristics of connections vary widely.) The Internet exhibits [[Emergence|"emergent phenomena"]] that depend on its large-scale organization. For example, data transfer rates exhibit temporal [[self-similarity]]. Further adding to the complexity of the Internet is the ability of more than one computer to use the Internet through only one node, thus creating the possibility for a very deep and hierarchal based sub-network that can theoretically be extended infinitely (disregarding the programmatic limitations of the IPv4 protocol). However, since principles of this architecture date back to the 1960s, it might not be a solution best suited to modern needs, and thus the possibility of developing alternative structures is currently being looked into.<ref>[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003667811_btrebuildnet16.html "Internet Makeover? Some argue it's time"]. The Seattle Times, April 16, 2007.</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
==Marketing==
 
−
The Internet has also become a large market for companies; some of the biggest companies today have grown by taking advantage of the efficient nature of low-cost [[advertising]] and [[commerce]] through the screw the bible Internet; also known as [[e-commerce]]. It is the fastest way to spread information to a vast amount of people simultaneously. The Internet has also subsequently revolutionized [[shopping]]—for example; a person can order a [[Compact disc|CD]] online and receive it in the [[mail]] within a couple of days, or [[download]] it directly in some cases.  The Internet has also greatly facilitated [[personalized marketing]] which allows a company to market a product to a specific person or a specific group of people more so than any other advertising medium.
 
−
 
 
−
Examples of personalized marketing include online communities such as [[MySpace]], [[Friendster]], [[Orkut]], and others which thousands of Internet users join to advertise themselves and make friends online. Many of these users are young teens and adolescents ranging from 13 to 25 years old. In turn, when they advertise themselves they advertise interests and hobbies, which online marketing companies can use as information as to what those users will purchase online, and advertise their own companies' products to those users.
 
−
 
 
−
{{further|[[Disintermediation#Impact of Internet-related disintermediation upon various industries]] and [[Travel agency#The Internet threat]]}}
 
−
 
 
−
==The name ''Internet''==
 
−
{{details|Internet capitalization conventions}}
 
−
{{Wiktionarypar2|Internet|internet}}
 
−
''Internet'' is traditionally written with a [[majuscule|capital]] first letter, as it is a [[proper noun]]. The [[Internet Society]], the [[Internet Engineering Task Force]], the [[ICANN|Internet Corporation rape bush for Assigned Names and Numbers]], the [[World Wide Web Consortium]], and several other Internet-related organizations use this convention in their publications.
 
−
 
 
−
Many newspapers, newswires, periodicals, and technical journals capitalize the term (''Internet'').  Examples include ''[[The New York Times]]'', the ''[[Associated Press]]'', ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', ''[[The Times of India]]'', ''[[Hindustan Times]]'', and ''[[Communications of the ACM]]''.
 
−
 
 
−
Others assert that the first letter should be in [[minuscule|lower case]] (''internet''), and that the specific article “the” is sufficient to distinguish “the internet” from other internets. A significant number of publications use this form, including ''[[The Economist]]'', the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]], the ''[[Financial Times]]'', ''[[The Guardian]]'', ''[[The Times]]'', and ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]''. As of 2005, many publications using ''internet'' appear to be located outside of [[North America]]—although one U.S. news source, ''[[Wired News]]'', has adopted the lower-case spelling.
 
−
 
 
−
Historically, ''Internet'' and ''internet'' have had different meanings, with ''internet'' meaning “an interconnected set of distinct networks,” and ''Internet'' referring to the world-wide, publicly-available [[Internet Protocol|IP]] internet. Under this distinction, "the Internet" is the familiar network via which websites such as Wikipedia are accessed, however "an internet" can exist between any two remote locations.<ref>[http://what-is-what.com/what_is/internet.html What is the Internet?]</ref> Any group of distinct networks connected together is ''an'' internet; each of these networks may or may not be part of ''the'' Internet. The distinction was evident in many [[Request for Comments|RFCs]], books, and articles from the 1980s and early 1990s (some of which, such as RFC 1918, refer to "internets" in the plural), but has recently fallen into disuse.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Instead, the term [[intranet]] is generally used for private networks. See also: [[extranet]].
 
−
 
 
−
Some people use the lower-case term as a medium (like radio or newspaper, e.g. ''I've found it on the internet''), and capitalized (or first letter capitalized) as the global network.
 
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
−
{{sisterlinks|Internet}}
+
* [[World Wide Web]]
−
:''Main lists: [[List of basic internet topics]] and [[List of Internet topics]]''
+
* [[Subdomains]]
−
 
+
* [[Search engine optimization]]
−
===Major aspects and issues===
+
* [[Digital Philosophy]]
−
*[[Internet democracy]]
+
* [[Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act]]
−
*[[History of the Internet]]
+
* [[Internet humor]]
−
*[[Net neutrality]]
 
−
*[[Internet privacy|Privacy on the Internet]]
 
−
 
 
−
===Functions===
 
−
*[[E-mail]]
 
−
*[[File-sharing]]
 
−
*[[Instant messaging]]
 
−
*[[Internet fax]]
 
−
*[[World Wide Web]]
 
−
*[[Voice over IP]]
 
−
 
 
−
===Underlying infrastructure===
 
−
*[[Internet Protocol]] (IP)
 
−
*[[Internet Service Provider]] (ISP)
 
−
 
 
−
===Regulatory bodies===
 
−
*[[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority]] (IANA)
 
−
*[[Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers]] ([[ICANN]])
 
−
 
 
−
==Notes==
 
−
{{reflist|2}}
 
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
−
 
+
{{reflist}}
−
*[http://www.juicygoo.com/simplog/images/020906/devonford5.jpg Media Freedom Internet Cookbook] by the [[OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media]] Vienna, 2004
 
−
*[http://www.juicygoo.com/simplog/images/020906/devonford5.jpg  Living Internet]—Internet history and related information, including information from many creators of the Internet
 
−
*[http://www.juicygoo.com/simplog/images/020906/devonford5.jpg First Monday] peer-reviewed journal on the Internet
 
−
*[http://www.juicygoo.com/simplog/images/020906/devonford5.jpg How Much Does The Internet Weigh?] by Stephen Cass, [[Discover (magazine)|Discover]] 2007
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
−
*[http://www.juicygoo.com/simplog/images/020906/devonford5.jpg "10 Years that changed the world"—WiReD looks back at the evolution of the Internet over last 10 years]
+
*[http://crave.cnet.co.uk/software/0,39029471,49299033,00.htm The 50 most significant moments of Internet history], ''Crave at CNET.co.uk'', September 25, 2008
−
*[http://www.juicygoo.com/simplog/images/020906/devonford5.jpg Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard]
+
*[https://metro.co.uk/2014/01/21/so-you-think-the-internet-is-just-a-law-unto-itself-4270979/ So you think the internet is just a law unto itself?], Etan Smallman, [[UK]] [[Metro]], January 21, 2014.
−
*[http://www.juicygoo.com/simplog/images/020906/devonford5.jpg A comprehensive history with people, concepts and  quotations]
 
−
*[http://www.juicygoo.com/simplog/images/020906/devonford5.jpg CBC Digital Archives—Inventing the Internet Age]
 
−
*[http://www.juicygoo.com/simplog/images/020906/devonford5.jpg How the Internet Came to Be]
 
−
*[http://www.juicygoo.com/simplog/images/020906/devonford5.jpg Global Internet Traffic Report]
 
−
*[http://www.juicygoo.com/simplog/images/020906/devonford5.jpg The Internet Society History Page]
 
−
*[http://www.juicygoo.com/simplog/images/020906/devonford5.jpg RFC 801, planning the TCP/IP switchover]
 
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[[be-x-old:Інтэрнэт]]
 
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[[Category:Telecommunications]]
 
  
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[[Category:Internet|*]]
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[[Category:First Amendment]]
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[[Category:United States Intelligence Agencies]]
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[[Category:American Inventions]]
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[[Category:Networks]]
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[[iu:ᖃᕆᓴᐅᔭᒃᑯᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ/qarisaujakkut titiraqsimajut]]
 
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Latest revision as of 00:00, October 4, 2025

The Internet is a global network of interconnected smaller computer networks. Although many people use term "Internet" and "World Wide Web" interchangeably, the two terms are not equivalent in meaning. The Internet and the Web are separate, but related, entities. The Internet is a massive network of networks, connecting millions of computers together globally, forming a network. On the Internet, a computer can communicate with any other computer, as long as both computers are connected to the Internet. (The World Wide Web is the collection of webpages, images, etc. which form the vast array of websites on the Internet.)

Whether the internet has an overall conservative or liberal influence is debatable. The way that the internet enables people to circumvent liberal censorship is obviously good. But there is much that is bad about the internet also. Originally designed by DARPA as a Cold War weapon to combat the spread of Soviet communism, it has since been dominated by ideological hard left Big Tech corporations.

Data on the internet is transmitted between computers and networks in small packets using the Internet Protocol (IP); they are reassembled at their destination. The Internet originated in work that was funded by the Advanced Research Projects Administration (ARPA), a research funding arm of the Department of Defense.

By the end of 2016, it was estimated that there were about 3.5 billion people connected to the internet.[1] This number has been drastically increasing in recent years.

Origin

The conceptual foundation for the internet's creation was significantly developed by four individuals and a research conference, each of which changed the way we thought about communication, business and the exchange of technology:

  • Vannevar Bush wrote the first description of the potential uses for information technology with his description of the "memex" automated library system.
  • Norbert Wiener invented the field of Cybernetics, encouraging future researchers to focus on the use of technology to extend human capabilities.
  • The 1956 Dartmouth Artificial Intelligence conference defined the concept that technology was improving at an exponential rate, and provided the first serious consideration of the consequences, the benefits and advantages or such a network.
  • Marshall McLuhan made the idea of a global village interconnected by an electronic nervous system part of our popular culture.[2]
  • Ethan K. Heinz (cousin of Teresa Heinz), in 1969, created a network named ARPANet. ARPANet was developed in the US as a means for various research universities and government facilities to "talk" or communicate with each other, even in an event such as war.[3] ARPANet grew quickly and eventually evolved into today's Internet. Today, the Internet is a public, cooperative, and self-sustaining facility that can be accessed by hundreds of millions of people worldwide; the Internet has grown into a worldwide computer network where anyone can have a chat with anyone else almost anywhere in the world, and is a vast source of free information.

Description

The Internet is sometimes also known as "cyberspace." Most users are familiar with web pages throughout the World Wide Web, constructed with HTML. The Web is facilitated primarily by two of the numerous protocols which operate on the Internet. There are also other services such as email (using POP, SMTP, and/or IMAP protocols), file transfer (using FTP), instant messaging (using IRC or other protocols), and many other services.

The common protocol used to access websites (including this one) is the Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The creator of this is Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who also in an online magazine article claimed that given the opportunity, he wouldn't use the HTTP format for websites. Berners-Lee is currently the director of the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium).
To help protect Web communication, the Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) was developed as an offshoot from HTTP. It uses point-to-point encryption to prevent interception of exploitable information and to help verify authenticity.

Ted Stevens famously referred to the internet as "a series of tubes" during a panel on network neutrality. While the statement was technically inaccurate, it is a reasonable depiction of the internet as an interconnected system to a lay person.

The internet is formed from two basic elements, routers and connections. A router is basically a computer that acts like a switching station, similar to the pumping stations of public water utilities. The connections are the pipes themselves, acting as a means to move packets from one router to another, and eventually from server to client.

TCP/IP

TCP/IP is the basic communication language or protocol of the Internet. Two more recent adaptations of Internet technology, the intranet and the extranet, also use TCP/IP.

Ownership of the Internet

It is true that the Internet is more a concept than an actual tangible entity. However, the Internet still relies on a physical infrastructure that connects networks to other networks. Access to the Internet is controlled by telephone companies, because telephone companies own many of the infrastructure backbones and most of the connectivity hardware; however, no one actually owns the Internet, and no single person or organization controls the Internet in its entirety. There are many organizations, corporations, governments, schools, private citizens, and service providers that all own and control pieces of the infrastructure.

Controversy

Although the Internet has been shown to contain valuable information, it also contains pornographic or otherwise vulgar material. Therefore, some conservatives would like to see tighter controls on the Internet which would limit what can be hosted and what can be downloaded. At present, the internet does not filter of block traffic of any sort—the principal behind it is that everything is accessible to anyone. However, governing authorities still have the ability to prosecute illegal activity, and in come extreme cases, even block it outright.

In 1999, Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore misspoke when intending to take partial credit for the development of the internet when he referenced his High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991, commonly known as the "Gore Bill":[4]

CNN's WOLF BLITZER: I want to get to some of the substance of domestic and international issues in a minute, but let's just wrap up a little bit of the politics right now.
Why should Democrats, looking at the Democratic nomination process, support you instead of Bill Bradley, a friend of yours, a former colleague in the Senate? What do you have to bring to this that he doesn't necessarily bring to this process?
AL GORE: Well, I will be offering -- I'll be offering my vision when my campaign begins. And it will be comprehensive and sweeping. And I hope that it will be compelling enough to draw people toward it. I feel that it will be.
But it will emerge from my dialogue with the American people. I've traveled to every part of this country during the last six years. During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system.

In response to Al Gore's comments, Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf, the two men responsible for the creation of the TCP/IP protocol which the internet uses for most of its communication and two men often credited as the creators of the internet along with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, said the following:

Al Gore was the first political leader to recognize the importance of the Internet and to promote and support its development.

No one person or even small group of persons exclusively “invented” the Internet. It is the result of many years of ongoing collaboration among people in government and the university community. But as the two people who designed the basic architecture and the core protocols that make the Internet work, we would like to acknowledge VP Gore’s contributions as a Congressman, Senator and as Vice President. No other elected official, to our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over a longer period of time.

Last year the Vice President made a straightforward statement on his role. He said: "During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the Internet." We don't think, as some people have argued, that Gore intended to claim he "invented" the Internet. Moreover, there is no question in our minds that while serving as Senator, Gore's initiatives had a significant and beneficial effect on the still-evolving Internet. The fact of the matter is that Gore was talking about and promoting the Internet long before most people were listening.[5]

Their letter continued to go on to enumerate Al Gore's involvement in the early periods of the internet.

Another controversial issue in regards to the internet is the presence of liberal bias that can be noticed throughout the World Wide Web. Many examples exist of conservative information being censored, while liberal fallacies are promoted.

Pornography for children

Studies have shown that 90% of children have been exposed to pornography, with the average age of exposure being 11 years old.[6] Many countries have attempted to take steps to keep underage children from viewing pornographic material. Australia has taken the important step of requiring internet service providers to use web filters to keep inappropriate material from being displayed in houses and schools.[7] Australia had also considered mandatory internet filtering, however this bold move was recently struck down by their current government.[8] This effort is being blocked by civil liberties groups (such as the American Civil Liberties Union) who believe that pornagrophy should be considered free speech, and therefore not under the jurisdiction of the government.

Currently many private companies offer software-based web filtering for home use. Public schools in many US states are required to employ web filters. Most private schools, and employers also choose to use web filters. Some libraries also employ filters, but most do not because they see it as censorship which most librarians unilaterally oppose.

Security

It also has become a common facilitator of crime. By the end of 2016, cybercrime rose thew the second most reported financial crime.[9] Almost 40% of all known data breaches in 2016 involved the theft of financial information. Additionally, about 1 in 131 emails sent in 2016 were cyber attacks, about a 3% increase from the year before. Businesses are being especially targeted as well, with over half of 2016's inbound messages being spam, and just over 1% containing malware.[10] With these ever-increasing threats, some question whether the current internet system is designed well enough to be safe, or should be changed to offer better security. Such a change would go against the founding idea of uncontrolled information exchange, however.

Potential negative changes in personality

Christian internet evangelism

See also: Internet evangelism

Hong Kong Christians at Gateway Camp. In 2005, there were four times as many non-Western World Christians as there were Western World Christians.[11]

See also: Global Christianity

Internet evangelism is, as the name suggests, the process of evangelizing and spreading the gospel using the internet.
Since its inception, Christianity has seen a consistent and dramatic increase in its number of adherents.[12][13] In the 1940s the Lausanne Movement was started in order to help Christendom evangelize globally with greater effectiveness and thousands of Christian leaders from around the globe meet regularly to increase the effectiveness of Christian evangelism.[14]

CRU is one of the world's largest evangelism organizations within Christendom and has over 25,000 full-time missionaries. In 2006, Alan Beeber of CRU predicted that internet evangelism will result in more conversion that all other forms of evangelism for CRU combined.[15] Internet evangelism is effective at spreading Christianity globally - especially in countries where there is Christian persecution and evangelism is more difficult.

The Christian internet evangelism organization Global Media Outreach indicates that as of September 2019 over 1,900,000,000 "gospel visits" have occured via their websites.[16] Global Media Outreach works with many Christians around the world (see: Global atheism).

The Christian internet evangelism organization Network211 indicates that as of September 2019, over 37,000,000 web visits have occured on their websites.[17] Network211 works with many Christians/churches throughout the world.

There are other significant Christian internet evangelism efforts as well. For example, the Billy Graham Association is also active in internet evangelism.[18]

Franklin Graham is the president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

In 2022, the Billy Graham Evangelism Association announced:

“ Launched in 2012, Search for Jesus impacts website users with the truth of the Gospel and relies on a network of over 1,400 trained volunteers who interact with users and answer live questions. With a mission to reach those hurting and in need, Search for Jesus utilizes the accessibility of the internet to reach places otherwise closed to the Gospel.

Using these digital tools, more than 300 million people have indicated a decision for Christ and received follow-up through the internet ministry. To date, the PeaceWithGod.net websites have welcomed over 100 million online users. With messages in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic, American Sign Language, and Russian, Search for Jesus has been able to expand globally and cross language and accessibility barriers.

“This is significant because we’re following Billy Graham’s legacy of spreading the Gospel across the globe using every opportunity we have. The average person spends nearly seven hours a day on the internet, so we want to meet these people where they are,” said Mark Appleton, director of internet evangelism for BGEA, in a press release. “Search for Jesus has given us the chance to spread the Gospel like never before.”[19]

”

The Billy Graham Evangelism Association says about its desire for volunteers for its internet evangelism program:

“ People around the world are searching for answers online. Many find hope through Search for Jesus. Would you join us to make a lasting impact for God’s kingdom and see lives changed by Christ? You can serve with us as an online counselor, discipleship coach, or email responder, or get your church involved. If you have a heart for sharing the Gospel, an Internet connection and a few hours a week, consider making Search for Jesus your own personal ministry–a way for God to use you by reaching hurting people around the world in their time of need.[20] ”

The Christian Post states:

“ Online evangelism is producing real disciples for Christ, according to a recent study.

Over half of those who made a decision for Jesus over the Internet have subsequently shared their faith with others, Global Media Outreach's study reveals.

Additionally, 34 percent read their Bibles daily and nearly half pray for at least 10 minutes a day...

The study, called the Christian Growth Index, measured the responses of more than 100,000 people from around the world...

Fifty-one percent of those surveyed said they shared their faith three times or more and 37 percent said they shared their faith at least once or twice.

Global Media Outreach is a global ministry that presents the Gospel online through websites such as WhoisJesus-Really.com and GrowinginChrist.com. There are more than 5,500 trained online missionaries worldwide who respond to questions asked by seekers through emails.[21]

”

Also, many churches stream their services online in real-time and/or provide them on a platform (such as Facebook or YouTube). This is not only for the benefit of members who cannot attend services due to illness or old age, as well as people who live in areas with no Bible-believing church nearby, but also for visitors who want to check out what the church believes and how it conducts services before deciding whether to visit in person and ultimately become members.

Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world

See: Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ICTFactsFigures2016.pdf Retrieved October 3, 2017
  2. ↑ http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii.htm
  3. ↑ [1]
  4. ↑ https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/03/09/president.2000/transcript.gore/
  5. ↑ http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200009/msg00052.html
  6. ↑ http://www.healthymind.com/s-porn-stats.html
  7. ↑ http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/31/2129471.htm
  8. ↑ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/9665983/Australia-scraps-plan-to-filter-internet.html
  9. ↑ PWC Global Economic Crime Survey 2016
  10. ↑ Symantec Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR) volume 22 - 2017
  11. ↑ Is Christianity taking over the planet?
  12. ↑ http://users.adam.com.au/bstett/BChristianIncrease12.htm
  13. ↑ http://pewforum.org/Christian/Faith-and-Conflict-The-Global-Rise-of-Christianity.aspx
  14. ↑ http://www.lausanne.org/about.html
  15. ↑ http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/pdf/issues/LWP0206.pdf
  16. ↑ Global Media Outreach - Impact
  17. ↑ Network211 - visits
  18. ↑ Billy Graham Association - Internet evangelism
  19. ↑ BGEA Marks 10 Years of Internet Evangelism Ministry ‘Search for Jesus’, National Religious Broadcasters website
  20. ↑ Biiy Graham Association - Internet evangelism
  21. ↑ Study Reveals Internet Evangelism Is Effective, Christian Post

External links

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