The commercial services are strictly business operations. Subscriber fees are the primary source of revenue. In the past the Internet received major support from the federal government. Rapid commercialization, however, is changing the economics of the Internet. Advertisers now pay for many popular sites while online newspapers are beginning to charge subscription fees.
Users pay connection fees.
Universities and corporations supply many data bases. Internet content will increase dramatically when methods of payment for small units of information become feasible. A free lance author might, for example, sell an article directly to the public for a few cents rather than go through a national news publication. Internet systems which can handle such transactions are currently in development. What are the telephone costs Most users have no special telephone charges.