Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5 cover the transition from a government-sponsored and research-oriented Internet to a privately owned and operated network. This transition did not go smoothly and required government managers to rethink their strategies for achieving policy goals. The experience changed key features of the commercial network, irreversibly, and in ways that encouraged innovation from the edges.
TABLE 2.1. Selected notable events from Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5
Year |
Chapter |
Notable Event |
1990 |
2,3 |
NSF conducts conversations about privatization |
3 |
PSINet and UUNET begin first full year as private firms |
|
1991 |
3 |
High Performance Computing Act of 1991 passed |
4 |
Tim Berners-Lee downloads code for web to shareware sites |
|
3 |
Commercial Internet eXchange (CIX) founded |
|
1992 |
3 |
Network Solutions takes control of domain name system |
3 |
Rick Boucher sponsors a bill to amend NSF Charter |
|
3 |
Internet Society founded and IETF becomes part of it |
|
1993 |
3 |
Final NSF plan for privatization emerges, and NSF solicits bids |
4 |
Mosaic browser made for Unix and Windows OS |
|
5 |
Earliest ads for ISPs appear in Boardwatch Magazine |
|
1994 |
4 |
Founding of the World Wide Web Consortium |
4 |
Mosaic Communications Company (MCC) founded |
|
4 |
MCC changes name to Netscape and releases a beta browser |
|
1995 |
4 |
Apache formed from different versions of NCSA HTTPd server |
3 |
NSFNET shutdown and Internet backbone privatized |
|
5 |
Netscape IPO and Windows 95 launched in same month |
|
1996 |
5 |
Congress passes the 1996 Telecommunications Act |
5 |
More than 2,000 ISPs advertise in Boardwatch Magazine |