Internet

The Internet (sometimes known as the internet) is a worldwide system of linked computer networks that communicates across networks and devices via the usage of the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP), which was developed by the University of California at Berkeley. Networking is a collection of networks that may range in scale from a local to a worldwide level. It is comprised of private, public, academic, commercial, and government networks that are connected together by a diverse range of electrical, wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet provides access to a wide array of information resources and services, including the World Wide Web (WWW), which contains interconnected hypertext pages and applications, electronic mail, telephony, and file sharing.

A decade after the invention of packet switching, and after research commissioned by the United States Department of Defense in order to allow time-sharing of computers in the 1960s, came the birth of the Internet. When it was first established as a backbone for connectivity of regional academic and military networks in the 1970s, the ARPANET was the most significant predecessor network. Because of the funding provided by the National Science Foundation Network as a new backbone in the 1980s, as well as private funding for other commercial extensions, there has been widespread participation in the creation of new network technology, resulting in the merger of numerous networks worldwide. The interconnection of commercial networks and enterprises in the early 1990s marked the beginning of the transition to the modern Internet, and the network experienced sustained exponential growth as successive generations of institutional, personal, and mobile computers were connected to the system. After a decade of widespread usage by academic institutions, the Internet's services and technology have already permeated almost every area of contemporary life.

When it comes to technical implementation or rules for access and use on the Internet, there is no one centralised governance; instead, each member network establishes its own policies. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is in charge of the expansive definitions of the two most important name spaces on the Internet, the Internet Protocol address (IP address) space and the Domain Name System (DNS), which are directed by an independent maintainer organisation (ICANN). The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is responsible for the technical foundation and standardisation of the fundamental protocols. The IETF is a non-profit organisation of loosely connected worldwide members that anybody may join by providing technical knowledge. The Internet was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a list published by USA Today in November 2006.