Well, that s the theory. There are committees of service providers and telecom agencies who meet to agree basic standards and connectivity issues, but in essence, the Internet is the manifestation of an altruistic notion originally created to help the scientific and educational community share information through a common data highway.
Some newcomers observe that the Internet is a form of a computerised anarchy.
And they are right. It just happens that the early adopters from the scientific, military and education communities have established a code of usage and ethics that has kept the extremities of human greed and unpleasantness in check. And yes, it is possible for kids to reach in and grab some fairly extreme material from certain newsgroups. Understanding and developing the necessary reference skills will point you to a treasure trove of material on subjects as diverse as the politics of East Timor and the Vatican Library. Depending on what you actually do for a living, this instant on-line access to reference material can in itself be financially rewarding.