The Internet reference article from the Simple Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Internet

The Internet is a computer network that connects computers worldwide.

The main use of the Internet is to send and receive email. The second most used service on the Internet is the World Wide Web, which contains websites, blogs and also wikis - including Wikipedia. Email is private and goes from one user to another. Web pages can be seen and read by anyone (unless the page needs a password or is blocked).

The Internet was created by scientists in the United States of America who wanted to keep communicating even if the telephone network was damaged by nuclear war. They designed it so well that even the government decided to use it for the same purpose.

Now, people can pay a fee to access the Internet from Internet Service Providers, but except for this net service and the computer itself, most net services cost nothing to use - like television and radio a lot of them are paid for by advertising.

Some people consider the Internet to be a bad thing, and IP block some or part of it. For instance, Wikipedia is considered bad in China, so no one in China can read it or add to it.

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