CIS 1200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 98: Internet Exchange Point, Internet Backbone

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Computing and Information Science
• Course: CIS 1200
• Professor: John Saville

Document Summary

Although the us government funded the development of the technologies that spawned the internet, no one really owns it. Individual local networks that constitute the internet are all owned by different individuals, universities, government agencies, and private companies. Many government entities and privately held companies own pieces of the communications infrastructure that makes the internet work. A number of non-profit organizations and user groups, each with specialized purpose, are responsible for managing the internet. Us government pays for a large portion of the internet infrastructure as well as funds research and development for new technologies. Originally, us taxpayers footed the entire bill for the internet, but as the internet grew and organizations were formed to manage it, businesses, universities, and other countries began paying for internet infrastructure and development.