PART 1
Essential Internet Knowledge
Chapter 1
The Origins of the Digital Revolution
Page 7 - Internet Access, ISPs, Online Services
Judicial Findings of Fact about the Internet
JUDICIAL FINDINGS OF FACT ABOUT THE INTERNET
Found below is Justice Reed's opinion [excerpted] in the case of ACLU v. Reno, 31 F. Supp. 2d 473 (E.D. Pa. 1999). Material in brackets [sample] is not original and has been added here for better overview. This case not only contains essential internet definitions, judicially fixed, but it was also a significant opinion in its own right.
[How is the Internet accessed? - ISPs]...
Individuals can access the Internet through commercial and non-commercial "Internet service providers" of ISPs that typically offer modem access to a computer or computer network linked to the Internet. Many such providers are commercial entities offering Internet access for a monthly or hourly fee. Some Internet service providers, however, are non-profit organizations that offer free or very low cost access to the Internet....
[How is the Internet accessed? - large online services]...
Another common way that individuals can access the Internet is through one of the major national commercial "online services" such as America Online or the Microsoft Network. These online services offer nationwide computer networks (so that subscribers can dial-in to a local telephone number), and the services provide extensive and well organized content within their own proprietary computer networks. In addition to allowing access to the extensive content available within each online service, the services also allow subscribers to link to the much larger resources of the Internet. Full access to the online service (including access to the Internet) can be obtained for modest monthly or hourly fees. The major commercial online services have millions of individual subscribers across the United States....
[How is the Internet accessed? - other institutions]...
In addition to ISPs, individuals may be able to access the Internet through schools, employers, libraries, and community networks....
[How does one communicate on the internet?]...
Once one has access to the Internet, there are a wide variety of different methods of communication and information exchange over the network, utilizing a number of different Internet "protocols." These many methods of communication and information retrieval are constantly evolving and are therefore difficult to categorize concisely. The most common methods of communications on the Internet (as well as within the major online services) can be roughly grouped into six categories:
[What are the six methods of internet communication?]...
(1) one-to-one messaging (such as "e-mail"),
(2) one-to-many messaging (such as "listserv" or "mail exploders"),
(3) distributed message databases (such as "USENET newsgroups"),
(4) real time communication (such as "Internet Relay Chat"),
(5) real time remote computer utilization (such as "telnet"), and
(6) remote information retrieval (such as "ftp," "gopher," and the "World Wide Web").
