It isn t subject to the laws of a single nation. Instead, it is more of a cooperative effort among millions of individuals. Still, many aspects of the Internet have developed by consensus, adaptation, and the free exchange of information and programs. After twenty years of work and development, the Internet today provides health professionals with quick access to virtually unlimited data, including clinical guidelines, medical protocols, journal articles and abstracts, genetic code, multimedia textbooks, tutorials, case presentations, radiology images, and much more. The agency s goal was to develop a network through which communications could continue in the event of a nuclear assault.
Packet switching is at the heart of the Internet today.
When this was done, the Internet was born. Scientists all over the country could share in super computing power if they had an Internet connection. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the National Science Foundation was instrumental in extending Internet connections to virtually all academic centers in the nation. Foreign networks were allowed to connect to the US backbone, creating a worldwide network. In the beginning, when the Internet was largely academic and military, Acceptable Use Policies were imposed, covering many aspects of its use.