The birth of the internet is traditionally traced back to January 1st, 1983 when the National Science Foundation linked several different science department computers together over large distances. This network was called NSFNet which is an ancestor of the internet.
In the beginning, the internet was created by ARPA, later renamed DARPA, which stands for the Advanced Research Projects Agency. It was, and still is, a department within the United States Department of Defense that is aimed at developing new technologies that will benefit the United States Military and Government. But ARPA soon gave control of the internet away to the NSF when the NSF pledged to only use it for scientific purposes.
It's been over twenty years since the internet was created and only a small majority of the work being done on the internet is for scientific purposes. Bittorrent, for example, is estimated at using an incredible one-third of internet traffic today. That means one-third of all traffic on the internet is not people clicking around, reading the news, reading e-books, writing e-mail, or doing research. Instead, most of the traffic is going to people that are downloading movies, games, music, and more. Some of these downloads are legal, but almost all of them are "illegal".
Most bloggers agree that the Net should remain neutral. The folks over at PodTech agree that it should remain neutral and even did several interviews with new companies to try and see how companies like Apple will use new and innovative approaches to distribute media to us in the new 'internet-age'.
Whether media on the internet is restricted or left wide open for Bittorrent users to download and distribute, the legislation currently being debated will change the internet and the world forever.
3 comments:
This is an informative blog about the history of the internet, as well as current issues. I hadn't realized that the internet used to be a part of a US government agency, nor the names of the companies mentioned that have vested interest in net neutrality. The need for the internet remaining neutral is also made apparent.
I really like your subject because it goes hand and hand with the the class subject. You have taught me something new today. I too think the internet should remain neutral.
I found this blog to be very informative. It's amazing what the internet has become when you think about what it used to be. While still trying to gain a grasp on the issue of net neutrality, I thought it was useful to provide that sort of background information to go along with discussions of the current issue at hand.
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