Communication Networks Economy

5The Impact of the Internet on the Economy

As information plays such a large role in our society, the Internet influences the entire economy as it affects a great number of activities. Network operators, the press, universities, the economy and politics must all take this new medium into account. Several common schools of thought on this topic are summarized here.

5.1. Network operators and the new economic order

5.1.1. Governance and regulations

5.1.1.1. Arpanet, forebear of the Internet

At the end of the 1960s, the Arpanet research project was launched to allow remote access to computerized documentary resources in the fields of science and technology. Following on from this, after other network experiments, the Internet was constructed around the idea that the network itself must be made only as intelligent as required to concentrate on point-to-point data transfer. Other concerns that were considered secondary at the time, such as security aspects, must be resolved through solutions linked to network access and terminals (computers, smartphones and tablets). It is actually easy to improve the periphery of the network, but it is very difficult to modify the heart of the network itself. Several proposals for international data networks were made before a definition of the Internet was reached. Since its public opening, the Internet has continually been developed as a test-bed network and provides users with new applications.

5.1.1.2. The Internet, a scalable network testbed ...