Internet 101

The Internet began its life in the 1970s as an experimental packet switching network originally developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and called the ARPANET.
The Internet is composed of independent computers that communicate using TCP/IP, a collection of platform-independent protocols designed especially for Internet use.
The Internet was originally conceived by the Department of Defense to be a communications network without any definitive points of administration. This was done so that an enemy could not disable the entire network by targeting strategic points.
The Internet is designed to function as an open networking medium, largely without centralized administration, and based on public domain standards. No one owns it, and no one is ultimately responsible for it.