Who Runs the Internet?



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Question: Who runs the Internet? By this, I mean who decided that you need to put http or www before a Web site address and all the other rules and the way things work?



Answer: Actually, no one runs the Internet. It is just a bunch of servers (computers) all over the world providing information over a standard network protocol. That doesn't mean that the Internet isn't without guidance from various organizations, government agencies, and committees.

The Technical Side Much of the work that goes into defining and running the technical end of the Internet is done by a group of organizations coordinated by the Internet Society: Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG), Internet Architecture Board (IAB), Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA) and the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF), and Steering Group (IRSG). (For explanations of these groups, see the Acronym Soup fact sheet.
http://www.cpsr.org/onenet/acronym.html)

Business The U.S. Governmentâs role in the Internet has steadily decreased over the last 10 or 15 years, and an assortment of businesses have taken over the tasks previously done by government agencies. The types of business include telecommunications, Internet Service Providers (ISP's), cable TV companies, hardware and software manufaturers, and Domain Name System (DNS) registrars and registries.

Government The U.S. Government hasn't become totally uninvolved; a number of agencies still make decisions and laws regarding the Internet. These include the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), National Science Foundation (NSF), Federal Networking Council, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

Content regulations like the US Communications Decency Act have been attempted and various governments have discussed issues including taxation, copyrights, and encryption. Anti-Spam laws are the current topic of discussion.

Higher Education: Colleges and Universities These organizations play an enormous role in the development and maintenance of the Internet. Research, digital libraries, and distance education are a few examples of the content that they provide on the Internet.



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