Who owns the internet

The short answer is that no one really owns the internet. However, many companies and governments have influence or control over parts of it.

The internet connects together many separate physical computer networks. The infrastructure used to do this – the computers and cables – are owned by many different organisations. These organisations have agreements to allow information to move between them.

Where governments or large companies control some of these networks they are able to monitor and restrict access to some or all of the information on the internet for people using their networks. For example, China and certain other countries are very active in monitoring which information its citizens can view online.

Beyond the physical level there are several other groups who have influence over the internet.

These include the Internet Society , which has served as the international organisation for global internet coordination and cooperation since 1992. A non-profit group involving people from many countries passionate about the internet’s future, the society is also involved in setting internet standards.

Also very important is the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) . This group develops the protocols, specifications and tools for the world-wide-web that ensure websites can be viewed in web browsers. The W3C also acts as a forum for new innovations in web design.

A third powerful group is the domain name administrators. This group of organisations manages the domain names, such as actewagl.com.au, that can be viewed on the web or used for email addresses. In Australia the primary group is named .auDa . They administrate all domain names, websites and email addresses ending in .au. The administrator of domains ending in .com is named ICANN .

Large companies can also have some influence over the internet. For instance Microsoft , by developing the world’s most popular web browser, Microsoft Internet Explorer – used by almost 9 out of 10 internet users – can affect what people view on the web through the features they include. Google , now the most popular search engine in the world, can have a major impact on the number of people visiting a website by removing it from their listing or simply dropping it down the list of search results.

Finally, everyone using the internet has some influence. The internet has allowed everyone who can access it to create their own websites and express their views online. Many popular ideas and services available on the internet were developed by one or two people and had spread quickly.

Examples such as the Milliondollar homepage and the growth of companies such as Yahoo and Google have shown that it is possible for almost anyone to influence the internet if they have a good idea and can communicate it.