How the Internet Became Commercial

How the Internet Became Commercial PDF Author: Shane Greenstein
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691178399
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 482

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Book Description
In less than a decade, the Internet went from being a series of loosely connected networks used by universities and the military to the powerful commercial engine it is today. This book describes how many of the key innovations that made this possible came from entrepreneurs and iconoclasts who were outside the mainstream—and how the commercialization of the Internet was by no means a foregone conclusion at its outset. Shane Greenstein traces the evolution of the Internet from government ownership to privatization to the commercial Internet we know today. This is a story of innovation from the edges. Greenstein shows how mainstream service providers that had traditionally been leaders in the old-market economy became threatened by innovations from industry outsiders who saw economic opportunities where others didn't—and how these mainstream firms had no choice but to innovate themselves. New models were tried: some succeeded, some failed. Commercial markets turned innovations into valuable products and services as the Internet evolved in those markets. New business processes had to be created from scratch as a network originally intended for research and military defense had to deal with network interconnectivity, the needs of commercial users, and a host of challenges with implementing innovative new services. How the Internet Became Commercial demonstrates how, without any central authority, a unique and vibrant interplay between government and private industry transformed the Internet.

How the Internet Became Commercial

How the Internet Became Commercial PDF Author: Shane Greenstein
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691178399
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 482

Get Book

Book Description
In less than a decade, the Internet went from being a series of loosely connected networks used by universities and the military to the powerful commercial engine it is today. This book describes how many of the key innovations that made this possible came from entrepreneurs and iconoclasts who were outside the mainstream—and how the commercialization of the Internet was by no means a foregone conclusion at its outset. Shane Greenstein traces the evolution of the Internet from government ownership to privatization to the commercial Internet we know today. This is a story of innovation from the edges. Greenstein shows how mainstream service providers that had traditionally been leaders in the old-market economy became threatened by innovations from industry outsiders who saw economic opportunities where others didn't—and how these mainstream firms had no choice but to innovate themselves. New models were tried: some succeeded, some failed. Commercial markets turned innovations into valuable products and services as the Internet evolved in those markets. New business processes had to be created from scratch as a network originally intended for research and military defense had to deal with network interconnectivity, the needs of commercial users, and a host of challenges with implementing innovative new services. How the Internet Became Commercial demonstrates how, without any central authority, a unique and vibrant interplay between government and private industry transformed the Internet.

The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet

The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet PDF Author: Jeff Kosseff
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501735780
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
"No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." Did you know that these twenty-six words are responsible for much of America's multibillion-dollar online industry? What we can and cannot write, say, and do online is based on just one law—a law that protects online services from lawsuits based on user content. Jeff Kosseff exposes the workings of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which has lived mostly in the shadows since its enshrinement in 1996. Because many segments of American society now exist largely online, Kosseff argues that we need to understand and pay attention to what Section 230 really means and how it affects what we like, share, and comment upon every day. The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet tells the story of the institutions that flourished as a result of this powerful statute. It introduces us to those who created the law, those who advocated for it, and those involved in some of the most prominent cases decided under the law. Kosseff assesses the law that has facilitated freedom of online speech, trolling, and much more. His keen eye for the law, combined with his background as an award-winning journalist, demystifies a statute that affects all our lives –for good and for ill. While Section 230 may be imperfect and in need of refinement, Kosseff maintains that it is necessary to foster free speech and innovation. For filings from many of the cases discussed in the book and updates about Section 230, visit jeffkosseff.com

Funding a Revolution

Funding a Revolution PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309062780
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
The past 50 years have witnessed a revolution in computing and related communications technologies. The contributions of industry and university researchers to this revolution are manifest; less widely recognized is the major role the federal government played in launching the computing revolution and sustaining its momentum. Funding a Revolution examines the history of computing since World War II to elucidate the federal government's role in funding computing research, supporting the education of computer scientists and engineers, and equipping university research labs. It reviews the economic rationale for government support of research, characterizes federal support for computing research, and summarizes key historical advances in which government-sponsored research played an important role. Funding a Revolution contains a series of case studies in relational databases, the Internet, theoretical computer science, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality that demonstrate the complex interactions among government, universities, and industry that have driven the field. It offers a series of lessons that identify factors contributing to the success of the nation's computing enterprise and the government's role within it.

Revolution in the U.S. Information Infrastructure

Revolution in the U.S. Information Infrastructure PDF Author: National Academy of Engineering
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309176328
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 87

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Book Description
While societies have always had information infrastructures, the power and reach of today's information technologies offer opportunities to transform work and family lives in an unprecedented fashion. This volume, a collection of six papers presented at the 1994 National Academy of Engineering Meeting Technical Session, presents a range of views on the subject of the revolution in the U.S. information infrastructure. The papers cover a variety of current issues including an overview of the technological developments driving the evolution of information infrastructures and where they will lead; the development of the Internet, particularly the government's role in its evolution; the impact of regulatory reform and antitrust enforcement on the telecommunications revolution; and perspectives from the computer, wireless, and satellite communications industries.

How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone

How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone PDF Author: Brian McCullough
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
ISBN: 1631493086
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
A Library Journal Best Book of the Year Tech-guru Brian McCullough delivers a rollicking history of the internet, why it exploded, and how it changed everything. The internet was never intended for you, opines Brian McCullough in this lively narrative of an era that utterly transformed everything we thought we knew about technology. In How the Internet Happened, he chronicles the whole fascinating story for the first time, beginning in a dusty Illinois basement in 1993, when a group of college kids set off a once-in-an-epoch revolution with what would become the first “dotcom.” Depicting the lives of now-famous innovators like Netscape’s Marc Andreessen and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, McCullough also reveals surprising quirks and unknown tales as he tracks both the technology and the culture around the internet’s rise. Cinematic in detail and unprecedented in scope, the result both enlightens and informs as it draws back the curtain on the new rhythm of disruption and innovation the internet fostered, and helps to redefine an era that changed every part of our lives.

Securing the Network

Securing the Network PDF Author: Nathan Gregory
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781520155586
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
Commercial use of the Internet was a new and radical concept! There is much more to the origin of the network than the story of ARPANET. This is the inside story, told by those who were there, of how the highly restricted, government-funded network playground of the government, military, and academia was usurped to create the modern Commercial Internet. This book provides not just the inside story but immense volumes of supporting information, documentation, videos and more. One man with drive and conviction became the visionary who united a collection of scrappy upstart ISPs for the formation of MAE-East, drove the creation of the long-haul Commercial Internet backbone at MFS Datanet, and then became a pioneer of the media-rich streaming data services that came into being at the ill-fated Enron Broadband Services prior to the Dot-com bubble burst in March of 2000. In 1991, the Internet was owned and operated by the National Science Foundation and was strictly limited in the things for which it could be used. In particular, the NSF had an Acceptable Uses Policy, a.k.a. the AUP, which prohibited anything which could be considered personal or commercial usage of the Internet. The NSF was looking to "sell" the Internet to a corporate entity and get out of the operation of the network. Many in the Internet community believed that when IBM teamed with Merit and MCI to form a partnership in a new company, they would win a contract to be this new backbone. Many in the Internet community assumed that if this happened, they would own the Internet and dictate usage just as the NSF had done. They bristled at this prospect. This new Merit/IBM/MCI company was called Advanced Network and Services (ANS) and operated the Internet NOC in Ann Arbor Michigan as part of the venture. Many of the small private Internet providers profoundly disliked ANS. They considered ANS a threat to the openness of the Internet. There was a joke at the time that said "The only thing missing from ANS is U" which appeared on a popular T-Shirt at Interop 1992. Debate raged about who was going to "own" the Internet when the NSF turned off the government-funded backbone. Small IP Services Providers began carrying traffic by interconnecting. From this debate emerged an independent entity beyond the control of the NSF, an interconnection point called MAE-East. From there, the Commercial Internet evolved and grew, and became the Internet we know today. The book "Securing the Network" tells the story of how this happened and the role of myself, many of my friends and co-workers, and especially that of my close friend and business partner F. Scott Yeager. If you use the Internet, work with the Internet, or are just interested in the history of the Internet, you need to read this book. Educate yourself. Buy "Securing the Network" today!

Minitel

Minitel PDF Author: Julien Mailland
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262036223
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
The first scholarly book in English on Minitel, the pioneering French computer network, offers a history of a technical system and a cultural phenomenon. A decade before the Internet became a medium for the masses in the United States, tens of millions of users in France had access to a network for e-mail, e-commerce, chat, research, game playing, blogging, and even an early form of online porn. In 1983, the French government rolled out Minitel, a computer network that achieved widespread adoption in just a few years as the government distributed free terminals to every French telephone subscriber. With this volume, Julien Mailland and Kevin Driscoll offer the first scholarly book in English on Minitel, examining it as both a technical system and a cultural phenomenon. Mailland and Driscoll argue that Minitel was a technical marvel, a commercial success, and an ambitious social experiment. Other early networks may have introduced protocols and software standards that continue to be used today, but Minitel foretold the social effects of widespread telecomputing. They examine the unique balance of forces that enabled the growth of Minitel: public and private, open and closed, centralized and decentralized. Mailland and Driscoll describe Minitel's key technological components, novel online services, and thriving virtual communities. Despite the seemingly tight grip of the state, however, a lively Minitel culture emerged, characterized by spontaneity, imagination, and creativity. After three decades of continuous service, Minitel was shut down in 2012, but the history of Minitel should continue to inform our thinking about Internet policy, today and into the future.

Book Business: Publishing Past, Present, and Future

Book Business: Publishing Past, Present, and Future PDF Author: Jason Epstein
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393103773
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
"An irresistible book about Grub Street, authorship and the literary marketplace."—Washington Post Book World Jason Epstein has led arguably the most creative career in book publishing during the past half-century. He founded Anchor Books and launched the quality paperback revolution, cofounded the New York Review of Books, and created of the Library of America, the prestigious publisher of American classics, and The Reader's Catalog, the precursor of online bookselling. In this short book he discusses the severe crisis facing the book business today—a crisis that affects writers and readers as well as publishers—and looks ahead to the radically transformed industry that will revolutionize the idea of the book as profoundly as the introduction of movable type did five centuries ago.

Information Rules

Information Rules PDF Author: Carl Shapiro
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
ISBN: 9780875848631
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 374

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Book Description
As one of the first books to distill the economics of information and networks into practical business strategies, this is a guide to the winning moves that can help business leaders--from writers, lawyers and finance professional to executives in the entertainment, publishing and hardware and software industries-- navigate successfully through the information economy.

Digital Disconnect

Digital Disconnect PDF Author: Robert W. McChesney
Publisher: New Press, The
ISBN: 1595588914
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 319

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Book Description
Celebrants and skeptics alike have produced valuable analyses of the Internet's effect on us and our world, oscillating between utopian bliss and dystopian hell. But according to Robert W. McChesney, arguments on both sides fail to address the relationship between economic power and the digital world. McChesney's award-winning Rich Media, Poor Democracy skewered the assumption that a society drenched in commercial information is a democratic one. In Digital Disconnect McChesney returns to this provocative thesis in light of the advances of the digital age, incorporating capitalism into the heart of his analysis. He argues that the sharp decline in the enforcement of antitrust violations, the increase in patents on digital technology and proprietary systems, and other policies and massive indirect subsidies have made the Internet a place of numbing commercialism. A small handful of monopolies now dominate the political economy, from Google, which garners an astonishing 97 percent share of the mobile search market, to Microsoft, whose operating system is used by over 90 percent of the world's computers. This capitalistic colonization of the Internet has spurred the collapse of credible journalism, and made the Internet an unparalleled apparatus for government and corporate surveillance, and a disturbingly anti-democratic force. In Digital Disconnect Robert McChesney offers a groundbreaking analysis and critique of the Internet, urging us to reclaim the democratizing potential of the digital revolution while we still can.