Some of the most credible sources estimate that there are148 Million Internet users worldwide, and that number is growing very rapidly. 320 million users are expected by 2002. These 37 million users from 34 million households used the Internet for a total of 65 million hours per day. Daily use at the office grew to 32 million users by the end of 1998. Individuals and families are using the Internet for social, civil, entertainment, and commercial purposes.
Email is the most popular Internet Activity.
The number of emails topped 700 billion in 1998. The Internet is a decentralized, global medium which maximizes user control. There are no gatekeepers and every user can be a publisher. The decisions about what content is available do raise many questions, and those questions will be the topic of one of the Internet Caucus Advisory Committee forums. But the Internet has some unique characteristics which make it both more challenging, and more of a resource at the same time.