Expert: Emmett Smith - 1/26/2008

Question
I don't know if you are the right person to ask but you got picked.  My question is:  Who owns the Internet?  Someone had to invent it.  And their main headquarters must be somewhere.  When AOL and MSN first started up they had to go to someone and say "We would like to be servers on your Internet".  Who did they say that to?  I'm just curious....and confused.

Answer
No, actually, no one owns the Internet. Various government organizations and telecommunications companies control the issuance of IP addresses in their countries and on their networks so, you could, say that these organizations own Internet access.

The Internet is comprised of the data on a vast number of computers owned by a vast number of people and companies who have agreed to allow the data on their  computers to be shared with people who have purchased Internet access from someone. Some of these companies charge to access the data on their computers but most don't. In order to keep track of who owns what data and to route it properly, domain names are sold by ICANN which is an internationally formed non-profit organization formed to do this. http://www.icann.org/tr/english.html

Telephone companies own the cables and equipment that transports Internet data. Without them the Internet could not exist. You could say that they own Internet access but not the Internet its self since they don't own the computers that store the information that you access over the Internet. The ability to access the Internet via their cables and equipment is what you are charged for.

So, if you buy a server, a router, a domain name, and a connection to the Internet from your phone company, the data on your computer can become a part of the Internet and you would own that part.

http://www.davesite.com/webstation/net-history.shtml

Hope I helped.

Emmett
http://ewebsmith.com