I nt er netHi st or yTi mel i ne 1969
ARPA ARPA (Advanc (Advanced ed Research esearch Projec Projects ts Agency) Agency) goes online online in December, December, connecting four major U.S. universities. Designed for research, education, and governm government ent organia organiation tions, s, it !rovides !rovides a communica communication tions s net"or# net"or# lin# lin#in ing g
the countr untry y
in
the the
even eventt
that hat
a
milit ilita ary
atta attac c#
destr estroy oys s
conventional communications systems. 1972
$lectr $lectroni onic c mail mail is intro introduc duced ed by Ray Ray %omlins omlinson, on, a &ambr &ambridg idge, e, 'ass. 'ass.,, com!uter scientist. e uses the to distinguish bet"een the sender*s name and net"or# name in the email address. 1973
%ransmissio %ransmission n &ontrol Protocol+nternet Protocol+nternet Protocol Protocol (%&P+P) (%&P+P) is designed and in -/0 it becomes the standard for communicating bet"een com!uters over the nternet. 1ne of these !rotocols, 2%P (2ile %ransfer Protocol), allo"s users to log onto a remote com!uter, list the 3les on that com!uter, and do"nload 3les from that com!uter. 1976
Presidential Presidential candidate 4immy &arter and running mate 5alter 'ondale use email to !lan cam!aign events. 6ueen $liabeth sends her 3rst email. She*s the 3rst state leader to do so. 1982
%he "ord 7nternet8 is used for the 3rst time. 1984
Domain Domain 9ame 9ame System System (D9S) (D9S) is establ establis ished hed,, "ith "ith net"o net"or# r# addre addresse sses s identi3ed by e:tensions such as .com, .org, and .edu. 5riter 5illiam ;ibson coins the term 7cybers!ace.8 1985
6uantum &om!uter Services, "hich later changes its name to America 1nline, debuts. t o
A virus called the nternet 5orm tem!orarily shuts do"n about -=> of the "orld*s nternet servers. 1989
%he 5orld ("orld.std.com) debuts as the 3rst !rovider of dial?u! nternet access for consumers. %im @erners?ee of &$R9 ($uro!ean aboratory for Particle Physics) develo!s a ne" techniBue for distributing information on the nternet. e calls it the 5orld 5ide 5eb. %he 5eb is based on hy!erte:t, "hich !ermits the user to connect from one document to another at di
%he 3rst e
;o!her, "hich !rovides !oint?and?clic# navigation, is created at the University of 'innesota and named after the school mascot. ;o!her becomes the most !o!ular interface for several years. Another inde:ing system, 5AS (5ide Area nformation Server), is develo!ed by @re"ster Cahle of %hin#ing 'achines &or!. 1993
'osaic is develo!ed by 'arc Andreeson at the 9ational &enter for Su!ercom!uting A!!lications (9&SA). t becomes the dominant navigating system for the 5orld 5ide 5eb, "hich at this time accounts for merely -> of all nternet trac. 1994
%he 5hite ouse launches its "ebsite, """."hitehouse.gov. nitial commerce sites are established and mass mar#eting cam!aigns are launched via email, introducing the term 7s!amming8 to the nternet vocabulary. 'arc Andreessen and 4im &lar# start 9etsca!e &ommunications. %hey introduce the 9avigator bro"ser. 1995
&om!uServe, America 1nline, and Prodigy start !roviding dial?u! nternet access. Sun 'icrosystems releases the nternet !rogramming language called 4ava. %he Eatican launches its o"n "ebsite, """.vatican.va. 1996
A!!ro:imately FG million !eo!le are using the nternet, "ith roughly 0= million of those in 9orth America (United States and &anada), million in $uro!e, and H million in Asia+Paci3c (Australia, 4a!an, etc.). F0.I million
(FF>) U.S. households o"n a !ersonal com!uter, and -F million of them are online. 1997
1n 4uly /, -J, nternet trac records are bro#en as the 9ASA "ebsite broadcasts images ta#en by
Pathfnder on
'ars. %he broadcast generates
FH million hits in one day. %he term 7"eblog8 is coined. tKs later shortened to 7blog.8 1998
;oogle o!ens its 3rst oce, in &alifornia. 1999
&ollege student Sha"n 2anning invents 9a!ster, a com!uter a!!lication that allo"s users to s"a! music over the nternet. %he number of nternet users "orld"ide reaches -G= million by the beginning of -. 'ore than G=> are from the United States. 7$?commerce8 becomes the ne" bu"ord as nternet sho!!ing ra!idly s!reads. 'yS!ace.com is launched. 2000
%o the chagrin of the nternet !o!ulation, deviant com!uter !rogrammers begin designing and circulating viruses "ith greater freBuency. 7ove @ug8 and 7Stages8 are t"o e:am!les of self?re!licating viruses that send themselves to !eo!le listed in a com!uter user*s email address boo#. %he heavy volume of email messages being sent and received forces many infected com!anies to tem!orarily shut do"n their clogged net"or#s. %he nternet bubble bursts, as the fountain of investment ca!ital dries u! and the 9asdaB stoc# inde: !lunges, causing the initial !ublic o
9a!ster is dealt a !otentially fatal blo" "hen the th U.S. &ircuit &ourt of A!!eals in San 2rancisco rules that the com!any is violating co!yright la"s and orders it to sto! distributing co!yrighted music. %he 3le?s"a!!ing com!any
says
it
is
develo!ing
a
subscri!tion?based
About ./ billion electronic messages are sent daily. 5i#i!edia is created. 2002
service.
As of 4anuary, G/.G> of the U.S. !o!ulation (-HF.-F million !eo!le) uses the nternet. 5orld"ide there are GFF.I million users. %he death #nell tolls for 9a!ster after a ban#ru!tcy judge ruled in Se!tember that ;erman media giant @ertelsmann cannot buy the assets of troubled 9a!ster nc. %he ruling !rom!ts Conrad ilbers, 9a!ster &$1, to resign and lay o< his sta<. 2003
t*s estimated that nternet users illegally do"nload about I.H billion music 3les
each
month.
S!am, unsolicited email, becomes a server?clogging menace. t accounts for about half of all emails. n December, President @ush signs the &ontrolling the Assault of 9on?Solicited Pornogra!hy and 'ar#eting Act of I==0 (&A9?SPA' Act), "hich is intended to hel! individuals and businesses control
the
amount
of
unsolicited
email
they
receive.
A!!le &om!uter introduces A!!le i%unes 'usic Store, "hich allo"s !eo!le to do"nload songs for cents each. S!am, unsolicited email, becomes a server?clogging menace. t accounts for about half of all emails. A!!le &om!uter introduces A!!le i%unes 'usic Store, "hich allo"s !eo!le to do"nload songs for cents each. 2004
nternet 5orm, called 'yDoom or 9ovarg, s!reads through nternet servers. About - in -I email messages are infected. 1nline s!ending reaches a record highML--J billion in I==F, a IH> increase over I==0. 2005
Nou%ube.com is launched. 2006
%here are more than I million "ebsites online. 2007
egal online music do"nloads tri!le to H.J million do"nloads !er "ee#. &olorado Roc#ies* com!uter system crashes "hen it receives /.G million hits "ithin the 3rst = minutes of 5orld Series tic#et sales. %he online game, 5orld of 5arcraft, hits a milestone "hen it sur!asses million subscribers "orld"ide in 4uly. 2008
n a move to challenge ;oogle*s dominance of search and advertising on the nternet, soft"are giant 'icrosoft o
n a San 2ransisco federal district court, 4udge 4e
of
5i#ilea#s.org,
a
5eb
site
that
discloses
con3dential
information. %he case "as brought by 4ulius @aer @an# and %rust, located in the &ayman slands, after a disgruntled e:?em!loyee allegedly !rovided 5i#ilea#s "ith stolen documents that im!licate the ban# in asset hiding, money laundering, and ta: evasion. 'any "eb communities, "ho see the ruling as unconstitutional, !ublicied alternate addresses for the site and distributed ban# documents through their o"n net"or#s. n res!onse, 4udge 5hite issues another order to sto! the distribution of ban# documents. 'icrosoft is 3ned L-.0 billion by the $uro!ean &ommission for further abusing its dominant mar#et !osition, and failing to com!ly to their I==F judgment, "hich ordered 'icrosoft to give com!etitors information necessary to o!erate "ith 5indo"s. Since I==F, 'icrosoft has been 3ned a total of LI.G billion by the &ommission for not adhering to their ruling.
