History of the Internet :: Computer Network

A Free NetThe lucre has revolutionized the colloquy world in scarce ways.It allows worldwide broadcasting, global distribution of information, and it is a mediumfor the interaction and communication of individuals without regard for geographiclocation.Thirty years ago, America?s top dog Cold War think-tank, the RANDCorporation, faced a strategic dilemma how could the linked States authoritiessuccessfully communicate after a nuclear state of war? The solution was a network of individualnodes, computer units that would send and pay off information in a random manner. If whizz area of nodes were ruined the message would bounce between the others. Afterthe Cold War ended, and the holy terror of nuclear war subsided, the potential for this?internet? was realized. Of course, in the beginning, it was small and embarrassing to make useof, but as more corporations and different social groups began to possess powerfulcomputers, the network grew and became more useful. As with the gro wth of telefaxmachines in the early 1990?s, the Internet was only practical if someone else had one tocommunicate with.Today, the Internet has moved out of its original base in the military and researchinstitutions and into schools and learning centers, public libraries and commercial sectors.It is now a vast system of millions of computers, not only corporate and military, but face-to-face as well. The Internet can be used for the purpose of meeting place information andcommunicating. The Internet enables users to surpass the distance barrier andPage 2communicate with anyone on the face of the planet, provided that they have access to acomputer. correspond to recent research, the world?s Internet population 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 thoroughgoingworld users (CyberAtlas).Lately there has been another addition to the usefulness of the Internet, the gross revenueof products and services. These transactions are known as e-commerce, the ?e? standingfor electronic. In 1998 a three-year moratorium banned the taxing of Internet use and on-line spending. Currently, a new law is looking to extend this ban another pentad years.There are authenticly 7,500 state and topical anaesthetic tax systems throughout the UnitedStates. These numbers could be significantly increased if state and local governments wereable to tax e-commerce. On-line businesses would be buried in pricey paperwork trying tomeet the terms of conflicting tax clauses. Under the current system, it is difficult todetermine the locality from which an order was placed and it is unclear where an Internet