TheMichiganDaily - Friday, March 24, 1995 - 3 W R to J s*z gcti a x noR .. p.k< R v4 ( rrt R6s.d. < 1 Y: . ". /.S Yd: e .;,Ny W )2k v: ASV . V f fce r 4 S 0 *'0 0 packets tags sent from 4; ett packets and tag~s are compiled ,01c14 ''4~l d O t 1 0 ~ r r tags and packets are sent through the packet-switched network via routers ( Q) . When information or documents are sent, the Internet's protocols, or instructions, break the files down into groups called packets. Along with the packets are tags for identification. Just as if you were moving a building across the country, you would dismantle the building and carefully label the components and their position. Since the components would be transported separately, different routes would be taken. Each component would arrive at the destination at a different time and then the building would be reconstructed. Similarly, the document's parts now ride the waves of the Internet, guided by switching centers called routers. Routers orient the packets to the quickest route to their destinations, a system somewhat analogous to air travel. Travel agents find the shortest flights with the fewest layovers. Airport hubs, like routers, connect airlines and are responsible for moving people from place to place. Thus the Internet is also called a packet-switched network. Since all the packets don't take the same route, they arrive at the destination disorganized. Once they arrive at the receiving computer, the packets are reorganized back into the document. Internet Timeline 1957 The Soviet Unioi launches Sputnik, the first artificial- earth satellite. The United States forms the Advanced Research Prjecth Agency within the Defense Department for science and technology research applicableto the, military. 1989 The Defense Department commissions ARPAnet to research networking. 1971 Fifteen nodes, with 23 hosts, connected to ARPAnet include UCLA, California-a Santa Barbara, Utah, MIT, Harvard, Lincoln Lab, Stanford, and Case Western Reserve 1972 Ray Tomlinson invents e-mail program to send messages across a distributed network. 1973 First international connections to th ARPAnet: England' and Norway. 1976 UUCP (Unix-to-Urx CoPy) developed At AT&T Bell Labs aW distributed with UNIX one year later. 1977 . THEORYNET created at University of Wisconsin providing electronic mail to more thanr 100 researchers in computer science (using UUCP). 1981 BITNET, the "Because It's Time NETwork," starts at the City Universityf New York as a cooperative network, providing e-mail and LISTSERV servers to distribute information. 19382 InterNetworking Working Group establishes the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP), as the protocol suite, commonlyrknown s TCP/IP, for ARPAnt. 1984 Number of hosts breaks. 1,000. 1987 Number of hosts breaks 10,000. Number of BITNET hosts breaks 1,000. 1988 Robert Morris's Internet worm burrows through the 'Net. 1989 Number of hosts breaks 100,000. 1991 Gopher released by University of Minnesota. 1992 World Wide Web released by CERN..t N umber of hosts breaks one million 1993 KEVIN WINER/Daily nications system impervious to nuclear attacks. The idea was to create a com- puter network that was not dependent on the individual members. For this to work, each computer had to be independent from - yet able to communicate easily with - every other computer. Such a decentralized network requires that data be stuffed into packets that bounce around from computer to com- puter. The packets may travel a variety of paths to reach their final destination. ARPAnet was the first off-shoot project, designed for networking research and funded by the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency. The Internet added government and university sites throughout the mid-1970s and into the '80s. Smaller networks, such as NSFnet run by the National Science Foundation, also were added. Much of the original support for the Internet came from the U.S. government. During the 1980s, however, the Internet expanded into an international network and gained commercial users. Today, pri- vate networking facilities - such as Merit Inc., which connects the University to the Internet - provide the upkeep of net- work connections and protocols. Cyberspace, a term coined by author William Gibson in his 1984 science-fic- tion novel "Neuromancer," meaning the computing community, is witnessing a population explosion. The Internet now spans the globe, entering more than 100 countries, and is used, according to con- servative estimates, by more than 25 mil- lion people. With more students entering college, more businesses getting connected and private providers rushing to fill the de- mand for cheap access to global commu- nication, the Internet is growing at a rate of approximately 1 million users each month, with no end in sight. The World Wide Web One of the most popular uses of the Internet is the World Wide Web. Using a browser such as Mosaic or Netscape, a user can access information around the world interactively. The "pages" can con- tain text, graphics, sounds and video. Pages are written using a special for- mat called Hypertext Markup Language. Hypertext links documents together, al- lowing a user to jump from page to page without needing to know the specific addresses. Hundreds of new pages are created every day. People with University accounts have the opportunity to create their own "home" pages. The University's Information and Technology Division provides documen- tation for developing Web pages. More information can be found on the Web using a browser. Ethernet: The Need for Speed Speed has always been a major factor driving the computer revolution. As files, especially graphics and sound clips, have gotten larger and larger, getting them takes more and more time. Faster net- work connections allow higher produc- tivity. The most common type of network at the University is Ethernet, both a net- working standard and the physical ca- bling that carries data. Ethernet transmits data at approximately 10 million bits per second. In comparison, a top-of-the-line dial-up modem connection runs at 28,800 bits per second - more than 300 times slower. Ethernet is installed in all Campus Computing and ResComp sites and in many University buildings, including Mosher-Jordan, Bursley and Baits resi- dence halls. By next fall term, ResComp will in- stall Ethernet in East Quad, South Quad. Mary Markley, Betsy Barbour and Helen Newberry residence halls. ResComp plans to have all residence halls connected by fall 1996. Back to the basics The four basic things that can be used on the Internet are electronic mail, Usenet discussion groups, file transfers and long- distance computing. Electronic mail is the most available and most widely used resource on the Internet. It allows people all over the world to send messages quickly and eas- ily to each other. An e-mail message originating at the University can arrive at a European destination in a few hours. A comparable message sent through the mail would take up to two weeks. Usenet discussion groups are gener- Bill would regulate Internet's content Watchdog group alerts users, providers of possible censorship Legislation working its way through the Senate would expand cur- rent Federal Communications Com- mission regulations on obscene and indecent communication transmis- sions to cover all content carried over all forms of electronic mediums, in- cluding the Internet. Sponsored by Sens. J.J. Exon (D- Neb.) and Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), the bill, formally known as the "Com- munications Decency Act of 1995," would amend the Communications Act of 1934. Current law makes it illegal to make obscene, threatening or harass- ing telephone calls. The 1934 act also makes it illegal to "knowingly permit a telephone facility under (your) con- trol" to be used for illegal purposes or to "make an indecent communication for commercial purposes ... available to any person under 18 years of age" by means of a telephone. The bill would change most of the paragraphs containing the word "tele- phone" to include all "telecommuni- cations devices," which would en- compass computer networks. Under the amended act, anyone who "makes, transmits or otherwise makes available any comment, re- quest, suggestion, proposal, image or other communication" which is "ob- scene, lewd, lascivious, filthy or in- decent" using a "telecommunications device" would be subject to a fine of up to $100,000 or two years in prison. Organizations opposed to the Exon bill see it as a threat to the free flow of information on the Internet. The Electronic Frontier Foundation was founded in 1990 as a watchdog group overseeing legislation and other matters concerning new communica- tion technologies. The EFF released an alert in February saying that the bill would make Internet service providers - such as the University -criminally liable if their network is used in the transmission of any "indecent, lewd, threatening or harassing messages." The alert also said the bill could cause service providers to severely restrict activities or completely shut down Internet access due to the threat of criminal liability. The EFF and other special interest groups believe the amendments could require carriers to act as private cen- sors of all public forums, file archives, discussion lists and private e-mail. Other organizations that have an- nounced opposition to the bill include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Voters Telecommunications Watch, the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Computing Pro- fessionals for Social Responsibility. k.~ II