Who owns the internet?

[hassen1]

No one actually owns the Internet, and no single person or organization controls the Internet in its entirety. More of a concept than an actual tangible entity, the Internet relies on a physical infrastructure that connects networks to other networks. There are many organizations, corporations, governments, schools, private citizens and service providers that all own pieces of the infrastructure, but there is no one body that owns it all. There are, however, organizations that oversee and standardize what happens on the Internet and assign IP addresses and domain names, such as the National Science Foundation, the Internet Engineering Task Force, ICANN, InterNIC and the Internet Architecture Board.

[mini_0]

Before you can answer who owns the Internet, you must answer what the Internet is. Is it a jumble of random wires and duct tape? Is it a software packet, a computer, or a router? While some may argue that it is one big snuff collection, in truth it is an amalgamation, an assortment of heterogeneous computer systems with varying capabilities linked together by various protocols.In theory, AT&T can lower the quality of the data transferred across the network, they can charge companies such as Google or eBay a higher price for letting them use their network, or they can simply block the data altogether. In its defense, AT&T notes that it is their network and they can charge any price structure they deem appropriate.