Internet and List of political parties in Japan: Difference between pages

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''For the more general networking concept, see ''[[computer network]]'' and ''[[internetworking]]''.''

{{Politics of Japan}}

The '''Internet''', or simply the '''Net''', is the worldwide, publicly accessible system of interconnected [[computer network]]s that transmit [[Data (computing)|data]] by [[packet switching]] using the standard [[Internet Protocol]] (IP). It is used mainly for looking up porn. It consists of millions of smaller business, academic, domestic, and government networks, which together carry various [[information]] and services, such as [[electronic mail]], [[online chat]], and the interlinked [[Web page]]s and other documents of the [[World Wide Web]].

'''Political parties in Japan''' lists [[political party|political parties]] in [[politics of Japan|Japan]].

<!--:''The general rule on naming applies. That means: the parties are named in the English translation and the original native name is placed on the first line of the article unless the native form is more commonly used in English than the English form. Rationale and specifics: See: [[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (use English)]]''.-->

Contrary to some common usage, the Internet and the [[World Wide Web]] are not synonymous: the Internet is a collection of interconnected ''computer networks'', linked by [[copper]] wires, [[optical fiber|fiber-optic]] cables, wireless connections etc.; the Web is a collection of interconnected ''documents'', linked by [[hyperlink]]s and [[URL]]s, and is accessible using the Internet.

==Major parties==

==Creation of the Internet==

*[[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] (LDP) ''Jiyū Minshū-tō'', or ''Jimin-tō'' 自民党([[Conservatism|conservative]], 1955-)

{{main|History of the Internet}}

**The LDP is Japan's largest political party and the senior partner in the current governing coalition. Prime Minister [[Shinzo Abe]] is a member of this political party. It is a [[Conservatism|conservative]] party of the [[right-wing]] and is made up of various conservative and reformist factions. The LDP has been in power almost continuously since [[1955]], when it was formed as a merger of early postwar Japan's two conservative parties, the [[Liberal Party of Japan, Occupation]], and the [[Democrat Party of Japan, Occupation]]. The party is characterized as being very conservative on social and foreign matters.

The [[USSR]]'s launch of [[Sputnik]] spurred the [[United States|U.S.]] to create the [[DARPA|Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)]] in February 1958 to regain a technological lead. DARPA created the [[Information Processing Technology Office]] to further the research of the [[Semi Automatic Ground Environment]] program, which had networked country-wide radar systems together for the first time. [[J. C. R. Licklider]] was selected to head the IPTO, and saw universal networking as a potential unifying human revolution. Licklider recruited [[Lawrence Roberts (scientist)|Lawrence Roberts]] to head a project to implement a network, and Roberts based the technology on the work of [[Paul Baran]] who had written an exhaustive study for the U.S. Air Force that recommended [[packet switching]] to make a network highly robust and survivable. After much work, the first node went live at [[UCLA]] on [[October 29]], 1969 on what would be called the [[ARPANET]], the "eve" network of today's Internet. In December of 1970, Charles A. Petrik contacted the U.S. Navy and suggested that a special communications network, which the Department of Defense had built for use in the possiblitity of a nuclear attack, could also be used during peace time. Petrik convinced the military to connect the computers of the U.S. National Laboratories for scientific research purposes, and to allow these labs to get data to other labs faster, and safer.

*[[Democratic Party of Japan]] (DPJ) ''Minshūtō'' ([[social liberalism|social liberal]] 1998-)民主党

**The DPJ is Japan's second largest party and leads the opposition. It is a [[social liberalism|social liberal]] party. It is the largest opposition party, and was formed in the late 1990s as a result of the merger of several anti-LDP parties. Quite [[Liberalism|liberal]] and oppositional on key issues, as well as moderately [[social-democratic]]. It is against the Iraq war, and was led by Seiji Maehara until the end of March 2006, when he resigned due to a crisis involving a DPJ member (Hisayasu Nagata) making false allegations that the son of LDP Secretary-General ([[Tsutomu Takebe]]) illicitly received money from former [[Livedoor]] president [[Takafumi Horie]]. As of [[April 5]][[2006]], [[Naoto Kan]] and [[Ichiro Ozawa]] are running for DPJ party president.

*[[New Komeito]]* ''Komeitō'' ([[Conservatism|conservative]], [[theocratic]] [[Buddhist]], 1998-)公明党

**formerly [[Komeito (Former)]] ([[centrist]], [[theocratic]] [[Buddhist]], 1964-1998)

**formerly [[Komei Political Assembly]] ([[centrist]], [[theocratic]] [[Buddhist]], 1961-1964)

**The Shin Komeito Party (Japanese name for the New Komeito) is Japan's third largest party and the governing party's junior partner. It was formerly known as the [[Clean Government Political Assembly]] and the [[Komeito (Former)|Komeito]]. The party is a [[Conservatism|conservative]] party of the [[right-wing]], but it is also well supported by organizations like the [[Soka Gakkai]], a sect of [[Nichiren Buddhism]]. Therefore, it is also considered a [[theocratic]] Buddhist party. It has moderated its stance however. Because it is partners with the LDP, it is unopposed to the war in Iraq. It is now led by [[Takenori Kanzaki]].

*[[Japanese Communist Party]] (JCP) ''Nihon Kyōsan-tō'' (communist, 1922-)日本共産党

**The Japanese Communist Party is Japan's fourth largest party and the middle partner of the opposition coalition. It is a [[moderate]] [[communist]] party of the [[left-wing]]. Though it is communist, it is not against religion and does not want the [[emperor]] to step down. It supports multi-party democracy and does not advocate the imposition of radical change on Japanese society. It is considered pacifist and skeptical of the [[United States]].

*[[Social Democratic Party (Japan)]] (SDP) ''Shakai Minshūtō'', or ''Shamin-tō'' (socialist, 1996-)　社民党

** formerly [[Japan Socialist Party]] (JSP) ''Nihon Shakai-tō'' (socialist, 1945-1996)日本社会党

***a breakaway group formerly known as the [[Democratic Socialist Party (Japan)]], now defunct, (social-democratic, 1960-1996)

****in 1948 split up into the [[Rightist Socialist Party of Japan]], (moderate social-democratic, 1948-1955), and [[Leftist Socialist Party of Japan]], (extreme socialist, 1948-1955), in 1955, reunified into JSP.

**The Social Democrat Party of Japan is Japan's fifth largest party and the junior partner in the opposition coalition. It is a [[moderate]] [[social-democratic]] party of the [[left-wing]]. It is seen more as a [[moderate]] social-democratic, and [[populist]] party rather than a [[revolutionary]] [[socialist]] party. It grew out of the [[Japan Socialist Party]] and the [[Democratic Socialist Party (Japan)]] It is opposed to the war in Iraq.

== Minor parties==

The first [[TCP/IP]] wide area network was operational by [[1 January]] 1983 , when the United States' [[National Science Foundation]] (NSF) constructed a university network backbone that would later become the [[NSFNet]]. (This date is held by some to be technically that of the birth of the Internet.) It was then followed by the opening of the network to commercial interests in 1995. Important separate networks that offered gateways into, then later merged into the NSFNet include [[Usenet]], [[Bitnet]] and the various commercial and educational [[X.25]] [[Compuserve]] and [[JANET]]. [[Telenet]] (later called Sprintnet), was a large privately-funded national computer network with free dialup access in cities throughout the U.S. that had been in operation since the 1970's. This network eventually merged with the others in the 90's as the TCP/IP protocol became increasingly popular. The ability of TCP/IP to work over these pre-existing communication networks allowed for a great ease of growth. Use of Internet as a phrase to describe a single global TCP/IP network originated around this time.

*[[Liberal League]] ''Jiyu Rengo'' (liberal, 1994-)

**The Liberal League is a [[right-wing]] party in Japan, which, despite its name, is actually [[Conservatism|conservative]]. The Liberal League has 1 seat in the Diet.

*Other minor parties

**Japan has other minor parties with national support, mostly with [[communist]] and [[socialist]] ideologies, as well as a few [[nationalist]], [[reformist]], and far [[right-wing]] parties.

*Dissidents from the LDP formed the following parties in 2005 :

***[[People's New Party]] (PNP) ''Kokumin Shintō'' ([[Conservatism|conservative]], 2005-)

***[[New Party Nippon]] (NPN) ''Shintō Nippon'' (2005-)

***[[New Party Daichi]] (NPD) ''Shintō Daichi'' (2005-)

===Existing national parties represented in the Diet in the past===

The network gained a public face in the 1990s. In August 1991 [[CERN]], which straddles the border between [[France]] and [[Switzerland]] publicized the new World Wide Web project, two years after [[Tim Berners-Lee]] had begun creating [[HTML]], [[HTTP]] and the first few web pages at [[CERN]]. In 1993 the [[National Center for Supercomputing Applications]] at the [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]] released the [[Mosaic (web browser)|Mosaic web browser]] version 1.0, and by late 1994 there was growing public interest in the previously academic/technical Internet. By 1996 the word "Internet" was common public currency, but it referred almost entirely to the [[World Wide Web]].

Current political parties that used to be in the Diet but aren't currently represented:

Meanwhile, over the course of the decade, the Internet successfully accommodated the majority of previously existing public computer networks (although some networks such as [[FidoNet]] have remained separate). This growth is often attributed to the lack of central administration, which allows organic growth of the network, as well as the non-proprietary open nature of the Internet protocols, which encourages vendor interoperability and prevents any one company from exerting too much control over the network.

* [[Dainiin Club]] ''Dainiin Kurabu'' ([[centrist]], 1983-)

==Today's Internet==

* [[New Socialist Party (Japan)|New Socialist Party]] ''Shin Shakai To'' (socialist, 1996-)

Aside from the complex physical connections that make up its infrastructure, the Internet is held together by bi- or multi-lateral commercial contracts (for example [[peering agreement]]s) and by technical specifications or [[Communications protocol|protocol]]s that describe how to exchange [[data]] over the network. Indeed, the Internet is essentially defined by its interconnections and routing policies.

* [[Sports and Peace Party]] ''Supotsu Heiwa To'' (centrist, 1989-)

* ''[[Takeru]]'' (centrist, 2001-)

===Other parties===

As of January 2006, over 1 billion people use the Internet according to [http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm Internet World Stats].

* [[Rainbow and Greens]] ''Niji to Midori'' (green)

* ''[[Ishin Seito Shimpu]]'' (far-right, 1995-)

* [[Women's Party]] ''Josei To'' (Feminist, 1993-)

* [[Internet Breakthrough Party of Japan]] (Led by Iron Chef Comentator and Judge and former LDP member Shinichiro Kurimoto)

===InternetRegional protocolsparties===

Some of the main regional parties represented in regional assemblies:

In this context, there are three layers of protocols:

* At the lowest level is '''[[Internet Protocol|IP]]''', which defines the datagrams or [[packet]]s that carry blocks of data from one node to another. The vast majority of today's Internet uses version four of the IP protocol (i.e. [[IPv4]]), and although [[IPv6]] is standardised, it exists only as "islands" of connectivity, and there are many ISPs who don't have any IPv6 connectivity at all.[http://www.livinginternet.com]

* Next comes '''[[Transmission Control Protocol|TCP]]''' and '''[[User Datagram Protocol|UDP]]''' - the protocols by which one host sends data to another. The former makes a virtual 'connection', which gives some level of guarantee of reliability. The latter is a best-effort, connection-less transport, in which data packets that are lost in transit will not be re-sent.

* On top comes the '''[[Application layer|application protocol]]'''. This defines the specific messages and data formats sent and understood by the applications running at each end of the communication.

* [[Kanagawa Network Movement]] ''Kanagawa Nettowaku Undo'' (Yokohama, socialist)

Unlike older communications systems, the [[Internet protocol suite]] was deliberately designed to be independent of the underlying physical medium. Any communications network, wired or wireless, that can carry two-way digital data can carry [[Internet traffic]]. Thus, Internet packets flow through wired networks like copper wire, coaxial cable, and fibre optic, and through wireless networks like [[Wi-Fi]]. Together, all these networks, sharing the same protocols, form the Internet.

* [[Seikatsusha Network]] ''Seikatsusha Nettowaku'' (Tokyo, socialist)

* [[Okinawa Social Mass Party]] ''Okinawa Shakai Taishu To'' (Okinawa, socialist)

*[[Green Niigata]], ''Midori Niigata'' (Niigata, communist)

**formerly [[Niigata New Party for People]], ''Shimin Shin-to Niigata'' (Niigata, communist)

==Defunct parties==

The Internet protocols originate from discussions within the Internet Engineering Task Force ([[IETF]]) and its [[IETF Working Group|working groups]], which are open to public participation and review. These committees produce documents that are known as [[Request for Comments]] documents (RFCs). Some RFCs are raised to the status of [[Internet Standard]] by the IETF process.

* [[Association of Independents]] ''Mushozoku no Kai'' (centrist, 1999-2004)

Some of the most-used application protocols in the [[Internet protocol suite]] are [[Domain Name System|DNS]], [[Post Office Protocol|POP3]], [[Internet Message Access Protocol|IMAP]], [[Simple Mail Transfer Protocol|SMTP]], [[HTTP]], [[HTTPS]] and [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP]]. There are many other important ones; see the lists provided in these articles.

** formerly [[House of Representatives Club]] ''Sangiin Kurabu'' (centrist, 1998-1999)

*[[New Conservative Party]], (conservative, 2002-2003)

**formerly [[Conservative Party of Japan (2000)]], (conservative, 2000-2002)

*[[Liberal Party (1998)]], (liberal, 1998-2003)

*[[Democratic Party of Japan (1996)]], (liberal, 1996-1998)

*[[Good Governance Party]], (liberal, 1998)

*[[New Fraternity Party]], (liberal reformist, 1998)

*[[Sun Party]], (liberal reformist, 1996-1998)

*[[Democratic Reform Party]] (liberal reformist, 1993-1998)

* [[Midori no Kaigi]] ''Environmental Green Political Assembly'' ([[ecologist]] [[Conservatism|conservative]] [[reformist]], 2002-2004)

**formerly[[The Sakigake Party]], (conservative reformist-ecologist, 1998-2002)

**formerly [[New Party Sakigake]], (conservative reformist-ecologist, 1993-1998)

*[[New Peace Party]], (conservative, 1997-1998)

*[[Japan New Party]], (liberal, 1993-1996)

*[[Japan Renewal Party]], (liberal, 1993-1994)

*[[New Frontier Party]], (socialist/liberal, 1994-1997)

*[[Democratic Socialist Party (Japan)]], (social-democratic, 1960-1994 - broke off from JSP)

*[[Democratic Party of Japan, Occupation]], (agrarian conservative, 1945-1955)

*[[Liberal Party of Japan, Occupation]], (conservative, 1945-1955)

*[[Great Achievement Association]], (conservative nationalist, 1889-1909)

**formerly [[Conservative Party of Japan (1880)]]

*[[Constitutional Liberal Party (Japan)]], (liberal, 1882-1931)

*[[Constitutional Progressive Party]], (moderate liberal, 1882-1934)

*[[Liberal Party of Japan (1881)]], (liberal, 1881)

**formerly [[Aikoku Koto|Aikokusha]], (liberal, 1872-1881)

*[[Liberalism in Japan]]

All services on the Internet make use of defined application protocols. Of these, e-mail and the World Wide Web are among the most well known, and other services are built upon these, such as [[mailing list]]s and [[blog]]s. There are many others that are necessary 'behind the scenes' and yet others that serve specialised requirements.

Japan has other minor parties not represented in Parliament (which have never been represented before), mostly [[reformist]], [[liberal]], [[nationalist]], [[socialist]], and [[communist]] parties.

Some application protocols were not created out of the IETF process, but initially as part of proprietary commercial or private experimental systems. They became much more widely used and have now become ''de facto'' or actual standards in their own right. Examples of these include [[Internet relay chat|IRC]] chat rooms, and various [[instant messaging]] and [[peer-to-peer]] [[file sharing]] protocols.

:''Ways to browse Wikipedia for political parties are by [[Index of political parties|name of the party]], [[List of political parties|country]], [[List of political parties by ideology|ideology]] or by [[List of political parties by ideology#Trans-national world groupings and parties|membership of internationals]] and through the category system: especially by [[:Category:Political parties by country|country]] and [[:category:political parties by ideology|ideology]].''

=== Internet structure ===

[[Category:Japan-related lists|Political parties]]

There have been many analyses of the Internet and its structure. For example, it has been determined that the Internet IP routing structure and hypertext links of the World Wide Web are examples of [[scale-free network]]s.

[[Category:Lists of political parties|Japan]]

[[Category:Political parties in Japan| ]]

[[es:Partidos políticos de Japón]]

Similar to how the commercial Internet providers connect via [[Internet exchange point]]s, research networks tend to interconnect into large subnetworks such as:

[[ja:日本の政党一覧]]

[[vi:Đảng phái Nhật Bản]]

*[[GEANT]]

*[[GLORIAD]]

*[[Internet2]]

*[[JANET]] (the UK's Joint Academic Network aka UKERNA)

These in turn are built around relatively smaller networks. See also the list of [[:Category:Academic computer network organizations|academic computer network organizations]]

In network [[schematic]] diagrams, the Internet is often represented by a [[cloud]] symbol, into and out of which network communications can pass.

===ICANN===

{{main|ICANN}}

'''The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)''' is the authority that coordinates the assignment of unique identifiers on the Internet, including ___domain names, Internet protocol addresses, and protocol port and parameter numbers. A globally unified namespace (i.e., a system of names in which there is one and only one holder of each name) is essential for the Internet to function. ICANN is headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, but is overseen by an international board of directors drawn from across the Internet technical, business, academic, and non-commercial communities. The US government continues to have the primary role in approving changes to the root zone file that lies at the heart of the ___domain name system. Because the Internet is a distributed network comprising many voluntarily interconnected networks, the Internet, as such, has no governing body. ICANN's role in coordinating the assignment of unique identifiers distinguishes it as perhaps the only central coordinating body on the global Internet, but the scope of its authority extends only to the Internet's systems of ___domain names, Internet protocol addresses, and protocol port and parameter numbers.

On Nov. 16, 2005, the World Summit on the Information Society, held in Tunis, established the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) to discuss Internet-related issues.

[[Image:WorldWideWebAroundWikipedia.png|thumb|300px|Graphic representation of a very small part of the [[World Wide Web|WWW]], representing some of the [[hyperlink]]s]]

===The World Wide Web===

{{main|World Wide Web}}

Through [[keyword]]-driven [[Internet research]] using [[search engine]]s like [[Google (search engine)|Google]], millions worldwide have easy, instant access to a vast and diverse amount of online information. Compared to [[encyclopedia]]s and traditional [[library|libraries]], the World Wide Web has enabled a sudden and extreme decentralization of information and data.

Many individuals and some companies and groups have adopted the use of 'weblogs' or [[blog]]s, which are largely used as easily-updatable online diaries. Some commercial organizations encourage staff to fill them with advice on their areas of specialization in the hope that visitors will be impressed by the expert knowledge and free information, and be attracted to the corporation as a result. One example of this practice is [[Microsoft]], whose product [[developer]]s publish their personal blogs in order to pique the public's interest in their work.

For more information on the distinction between the World Wide Web and the Internet itself — as in everyday use the two are sometimes confused — see [[Dark internet]] where this is discussed in more detail.

===Remote access===

The Internet allows computer users to connect to other computers and information stores easily, wherever they may be across the world.

They may do this with or without the use of security, authentication and encryption technologies, depending on the requirements.

This is encouraging new ways of working from home, collaboration and information sharing in many industries. An [[Accountancy|accountant]] sitting at home can [[audit]] the books of a company based in another country, on a [[Server (computing)|Server]] situated in a third country that is remotely maintained by IT specialists in a fourth. These accounts could have been created by home-working book-keepers, in other remote locations, based on information e-mailed to them from offices all over the world. Some of these things were possible before the widespread use of the Internet, but the cost of private, [[leased line]]s would have made many of them infeasible in practice.

An office worker away from his desk, perhaps the other side of the world on a business trip or a holiday, can open a [[Remote Desktop Protocol|remote desktop]] session into his normal office PC using a secure [[Virtual Private Network]] (VPN) connection via the Internet. This gives him complete access to all his normal files and data, including e-mail and other applications, while he is away.

This concept is also referred to by some network security people as the Virtual Private Nightmare, because it extends the secure perimeter of a corporate network into its employees' homes; this has been the source of some notable security breaches.

===Collaboration===

This low-cost and nearly instantaneous sharing of ideas, knowledge and skills has revolutionized some, and given rise to whole new, areas of human activity. One example of this is the [[collaboration|collaborative]] development and distribution of [[Free/Libre/Open-Source Software]] (FLOSS) such as [[Linux]], [[Mozilla]] and [[OpenOffice.org]]. See [[Collaborative software]].

===File-sharing===

{{main|File sharing}}

A [[computer file]] can be [[Electronic mail|e-mailed]] to customers, colleagues and friends as an [[E-mail attachment|attachment]]. It can be uploaded to a [[website]] or [[File transfer protocol|FTP]] server for easy download by others. It can be put into a "shared ___location" or onto a [[file server]] for instant use by colleagues. The load of bulk downloads to many users can be eased by the use of "[[mirror (computing)|mirror]]" servers or [[peer-to-peer]] networking.

In any of these cases, access to the file may be controlled by user [[authentication]]; the transit of the file over the Internet may be obscured by [[encryption]] and money may change hands before or after access to the file is given. The price can be paid by the remote charging of funds from, for example a [[credit card]] whose details are also passed - hopefully fully encrypted - across the Internet. The origin and authenticity of the file received may be checked by [[digital signature]]s or by [[MD5]] or other message digests.

These simple features of the Internet, over a world-wide basis, are changing the basis for the production, sale and distribution of many types of product, wherever they can be reduced to a computer file for transmission. This includes all manner of office documents, publications, software products, [[music]], photography, video, animations, graphics and the other arts. This in turn is causing seismic shifts in each of the existing industry associations, such as the [[RIAA]] and [[MPAA]] in the USA, that previously controlled the production and distribution of these products in that country.

===Streaming media===

Many existing radio and television broadcasters provide Internet 'feeds' of their live audio and video streams (for example, the [[BBC#Internet|BBC]]). They may also allow time-shift viewing or listening such as Preview, Classic Clips and Listen Again features. These providers have been joined by a range of pure Internet 'broadcasters' who never had on-air licences. This means that an Internet-connected device, such as a computer or something more specific, can be used to access on-line media in much the same way as was previously possible only with a [[TV]] or [[radio]] receiver. The range of material is much wider, from [[pornography]] to highly specialised technical web-casts. [[Podcasting]] is a variation on this theme, where&mdash;usually audio&mdash;material is first downloaded in full and then may be played back on a computer or shifted to a [[digital audio player]] to be listened to on the move. These techniques using simple equipment allow anybody, with little censorship or licensing control, to broadcast audio-visual material on a worldwide basis.

[[Webcam]]s can be seen as an even lower-budget extension of this phenomenon. While some webcams can give full frame rate video, the picture is usually either small or updates slowly. Internet users can watch animals around an African waterhole, ships in the [[Panama Canal]], the traffic at a local roundabout or their own premises, live and in real time. Video [[chat rooms]], [[video conferencing]], and remote controllable webcams are also popular. Many uses can be found for personal webcams in and around the home, with and without two-way sound.

=== VoIP ===

[[Voice over IP|VoIP]] stands for Voice over IP, where [[Internet Protocol|IP]] refers to the Internet Protocol that underlies all Internet communication. This phenomenon began as an optional two-way voice extension to some of the [[Instant Messaging]] systems that took off around the year 2000. In recent years many VoIP systems have become as easy to use and as convenient as a normal telephone. The benefit is that, as the Internet carries the actual voice traffic, VoIP can be free or cost much less than a normal telephone call, especially over long distances and especially for those with always-on [[ADSL]] or [[Digital Subscriber Line|DSL]] Internet connections.

Thus VoIP is maturing into a viable alternative to traditional telephones. Interoperability between different providers has improved and the ability to call or receive a call from a traditional telephone is available. Simple inexpensive VoIP modems are now available that eliminate the need for a PC.

Voice quality can still vary from call to call but is often equal to and can even exceed that of traditional calls.

Remaining problems for VoIP include [[emergency telephone number]] dialing and reliability. Currently a few VoIP providers provide some 911 dialing but it is not universally available. Traditional phones are line powered and operate during a power failure, VoIP does not do so without a [[Uninterruptible power supply|backup power source]] for the electronics.

Most VoIP providers offer unlimited national calling but the direction in VoIP is clearly toward global coverage with unlimited minutes for a low monthly fee.

===Language===

{{main|English on the Internet}}

The most prevalent language for communication on the Internet is [[English language|English]]. This may be due to the Internet's origins, as well as English's role as the [[lingua franca]]. It may also be related to the poor capability of early computers to handle characters other than those in the basic [[Latin alphabet]]. {{further|[[Unicode]]}}

After English (32% of web visitors) the most-requested languages on the [[world wide web]] are [[Chinese language|Chinese]] 13%, [[Japanese language|Japanese]] 8%, [[Spanish language|Spanish]] 7%, [[German language|German]] 6% and [[French language|French]] 4% (from [http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm Internet World Stats], updated November 30, 2005).

<!-- Note that the use of these copyright statistics is dependent on "giving due credit and establishing an active link back to www.internetworldstats.com", so please do not remove the citation above -->

By continent, 34% of the world's Internet users are based in [[Asia]], 29% in [[Europe]], and 23% in [[North America]] ([http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm] updated [[November 21]], 2005).

<!-- Note that the use of these copyright statistics is dependent on "giving due credit and establishing an active link back to www.internetworldstats.com", so please do not remove the citation above -->

The Internet's technologies have developed enough in recent years that good facilities are available for development and communication in most widely used languages. However, some glitches such as ''[[krakozyabry]]'' (also known as ''mojibake'') still remain.

===Internet and the workplace===

With the emergence of the internet and recent high speed connections becoming available to the public, the internet has altered the way many people work in significant ways. Contrary to the traditional 9-5 workday where employees commute to and from work, the internet has allowed greater flexibility both in terms of working hours and work ___location. Today, many employees work from home by "[[telecommuting]]".

The internet and the advent of [[blogs]] has given employees a forum from which to voice their opinions about their jobs, employers and co-workers, creating a massive amount of [[information]] and [[data]] on work that is currently being collected by the [http://www.worklifewizard.org Worklifewizard.org] project run by [http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/lwp Harvard Law School's Labor & Worklife Program].

==Censorship==

{{main|Censorship in cyberspace}}

Some governments, such as in [[Iran]] and [[China]] restrict what people in their countries can access on the Internet, especially political and religious content. Many of these country made into law of distributing materials that's considered illegal.

Censorship is sometimes done through government controlled censoring filters (in the cases of Iran and China supplied by large US corporations). However, many internet users are able to bypass these filters, meaning that most Internet content is accessible regardless of where one is in the world, so long as one has the technical skill and means of connecting to it.

Censorship can also be effected by means of law or culture, making the propagation of targeted materials extremely risky. In the UK, possession of censored material, such as child pornography, is a criminal offence.

There are a large number of programs available that will block what are deemed to be offensive Web sites (such as pornographic or violent) on individual computers or networks; they are variously known as "Internet filters" or "[[Censorware]]".

==Internet access==

{{main|Internet access}}

[[Image:Internet-users-public-access-xi-unctad.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Internet public access point.]]

{{wikibookspar||Online linux connect}}

Common methods of home access include [[Dial-up access|dial-up]], landline [[Broadband Internet access|broadband]] (over coaxial cable, fibre optic or copper wires), [[Wi-Fi]], [[Satellite Internet|satellite]] and [[mobile phone|cell phones]].

[[Public place]]s to use the Internet include [[libraries]] and [[Internet cafe]]s, where computers with Internet connections are available. There are also Internet access points in many public places such as airport halls and coffee shops. In some cases just for brief use while standing. Various terms are used, such as "public Internet kiosk", "public access terminal", and "Web [[payphone]]". Many hotels now also have public terminals, though these are usually fee based.

[[Wi-Fi]] provides wireless access to computer networks, and therefore can do so to the Internet itself. [[Hotspot (wifi)|Hotspots]] providing such access include [[Wi-Fi#Commercial Wi-Fi|Wi-Fi-cafes]], where a would-be user needs to bring their own wireless-enabled devices such as a [[laptop]] or [[Personal Digital Assistant|PDA]]. These services may be free to all, free to customers only, or fee-based. A hotspot need not be limited to a confined ___location. The whole campus or park, or even the entire city can be enabled. [[Grassroots]] efforts have led to [[wireless community network]]s. Commercial WiFi services covering large city areas are in place in [[London]], [[San Francisco]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Chicago]], and other cities, including [[Toronto]] by the end of 2006. The Internet can then be accessed from such places as a park bench.<ref>[http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aQ0ZfhMa4XGQ&refer=canada "Toronto Hydro to Install Wireless Network in Downtown Toronto"]. Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 19-Mar-2006.</ref>

Apart from Wi-Fi, there have been experiments with proprietary mobile wireless networks like [[Ricochet]], various high-speed data services over cellular or mobile phone networks, and fixed wireless services.

==Capitalization conventions==

{{main|Internet capitalization conventions}}

''Internet'' is traditionally written with a [[majuscule|capital]] first letter. The [[Internet Society]], the [[Internet Engineering Task Force]], the [[ICANN|Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers]], the [[World Wide Web Consortium]], and several other Internet-related organizations use this convention in their publications.

Many newspapers, newswires, periodicals, and technical journals capitalize the term. Examples include the ''[[New York Times]]'', the ''[[Associated Press]]'', ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', ''[[The Times of India]]'', ''[[Hindustan Times]]'' and ''[[Communications of the ACM]]''.

Others assert that the first letter should be written [[minuscule|small]] (''internet''). A significant number of publications use this form, including ''[[The Economist]]'', the ''[[Financial Times]]'', ''[[The Guardian]]'', ''[[The Times]]'', and ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]''. As of 2005, many publications using ''internet'' appear to be located outside of [[North America]] although one U.S. news source, ''[[Wired News]]'', has adopted the lower case spelling.

==Leisure==

The Internet has been a major source of leisure since before the World Wide Web, with entertaining social experiments such as [[MOO]]s being conducted on university servers, and humor-related [[Usenet]] groups receiving much of the main traffic. Today, many [[Internet forum]]s have sections devoted to [[neta]]; short cartoons in the form of [[Flash movie]]s are also popular.

The [[pornography]] and [[gambling]] industries have both taken full advantage of the World Wide Web, and often provide a significant source of advertising revenue for other Web sites. Although many governments have attempted to put restrictions on both industries' use of the Internet, this has generally failed to stop their widespread popularity.

One main area of leisure on the Internet is [[multiplayer gaming]]. This form of leisure creates communities, bringing people of all ages and origins to enjoy the fast-paced world of multiplayer games. These range from [[MMORPG]] to [[first-person shooter]]s, from [[computer role-playing game|role-playing games]] to [[online gambling]]. This has revolutionized the way many people interact and spend their free time on the Internet.

While online gaming has been around since the 1970s today's style of online gaming began with services such as [[GameSpy Arcade|GameSpy]] and [[MPlayer.com|MPlayer]], which players of games would typically subscribe to. Non-subscribers were limited to certain types of gameplay or certain games. With the release of Diablo by [[Blizzard Entertainment]], gamers were treated to a built in online game service that was free of charge over [[Battle.net]]. With Blizzard's next game, [[StarCraft]], the gaming world saw an explosion in the numbers of players using the Internet to play multi-player games. StarCraft may have been the first non-MMO game in which most players utilized the online gameplay as opposed to the single-player gameplay. Recently with the release of World Of Warcraft (WOW) many users spend hours in a day trying to level up their characters.

Many use the Internet to access and download music, movies and other works for their enjoyment and relaxation. As discussed above, there are paid and unpaid sources for all of these, using centralised servers and distributed, peer-to-peer technologies. Discretion is needed as some of these sources take more care over the original artists' rights and over copyright laws than others.

Many use the World Wide Web to access news, weather and sports reports, to plan and book holidays and to find out more about their random ideas and casual interests.

People use [[Internet Relay Chat|chat]], [[Instant messaging|messaging]] and email to make and stay in touch with friends worldwide, sometimes in the same way as some previously had [[pen pal]]s. Social networking web sites like [[Friends Reunited]] and many others like them also put and keep people in contact for their enjoyment.

[[Cyberslacking]] has become a serious drain on corporate resources; the average UK employee spends 57 minutes a day surfing the web at work, according to a study by [[Peninsula Business Services]][http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=914&id=1001802003].

==A complex system==

Many computer scientists see the Internet as a "prime example of a large-scale, highly engineered, yet highly [[complex system]]" (Willinger, et al). The Internet is extremely heterogeneous. (For instance, data transfer rates and physical characteristics of connections vary widely.) The Internet exhibits [[Emergence|"emergent phenomena"]] that depend on its large-scale organization. For example, data transfer rates exhibit temporal self-similarity.

{{section-stub}}

==Marketing==

The Internet has also become a large market for companies; some of the biggest companies today have grown by taking advantage of the efficient nature of low-cost [[advertising]] and [[commerce]] through the Internet; also known as [[e-commerce]]. It is the fastest way to spread information to a vast amount of people simultaneously. The Internet has also subsequently revolutionized [[shopping]]—for example; a person can order a [[Compact disc|CD]] online and receive it in the [[mail]] within a couple of days, or [[download]] it directly in some cases. The Internet has also greatly facilitated [[personalized marketing]] which allows a company to market a product to a specific person or a specific group of people moreso than any other advertising medium.

Examples of personalized marketing include online communities such as [[Myspace]], [[Friendster]], and others which thousands of Internet users join to advertise themselves and make friends online. Many of these users are young teens and adolescents ranging from 13 to 25 years old. In turn, when they advertise themselves they advertise interests and hobbies, which online marketing companies can use as information as to what those users will purchase online, and advertise their own companies' products to those users.

{{section-stub}}

==Significant Internet events==

===Malfunctions and attacks===

*[[2003 North America blackout]] - [[August 14]], [[2003]]

*[[SQL slammer (computer worm)|SQL Slammer worm]] - [[January 24]], [[2003]]

*[[2002 DNS Backbone DDoS]] - [[October 22]], [[2002]]

*UUNet/Worldcom backbone difficulties - [[October 3]], [[2002]]

*[[Morris worm]]

==See also==

{{wikiquote}}

{{commons|Internet}}

* [[List of Internet topics]]

* [[Internet art|Art on the Internet]]

* [[Bogon filtering]]

* [[Catenet]]

* [[Central ad server]]

* [[Cybersex]]

* [[Cyberzine]]

* [[Dark internet]]

* [[Download]]

* [[Internet democracy|Democracy on the Internet]]

* [[Internet dynamics|Dynamics of the Internet]]

* [[E-mail]]

* [[Extranet]]

* [[File Sharing]]

* [[Flaming]]

* [[Internet friendship|Friendship on the Internet]]

* [[Hacktivism]] or [[Hacker culture]]

* [[History of the Internet]]

* [[Hypertext Transfer Protocol]] (HTTP)

* [[Internet humor|Humor on the Internet]]

* [[ICANN]]

* [[Instant Messaging]]

* [[International Freedom of Expression eXchange]] - monitors Internet censorship around the world

* [[Internet 2]]

* [[Internet Archive]]

* [[Internet forum]]

* [[Internet pornography]]

* [[Internet Relay Chat]]

* [[Internet Service Provider]]

* [[Internet traffic engineering]]

* [[Internets (colloquialism)]]

* [[Interweb]]

* [[Intranet]]

* [[Modem]]

* [[NANOG]]

* [[Netiquette]]

* [[Network Mapping]]

* [[Object hyperlinking]]

* [[Online banking]]

* [[Open Directory Project]]

* [[Internet privacy|Privacy on the Internet]]

* [[Search engine]]

* [[Security breach|Security breaches]]

* [[Server (computing)|Server]]

* [[TOTSE]]

* [[Internet slang|Slang on the Internet]]

* [[Internet troll|Trolls and trolling]]

* [[Upload]]

* [[Videotex]] - an early communications technology

* [[Web browser]]

* [[Web hosting]]

* [[Web portal]]

* [[WebQuest]]

* [[World Wide Web]]

* [[Web Design]]

==References==

===Citations and notes===

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===General===

*[http://www.livinginternet.com Living Internet] -- Internet history and related information, including information from many creators of the Internet.

*[http://www.firstmonday.org/ First Monday] peer-reviewed journal on the internet

* Walter Willinger, Ramesh Govindan, Sugih Jamin, Vern Paxson, and Scott Shenker. (2002). Scaling phenomena in the Internet. In ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99'', suppl. 1, 2573 – 2580.

==External links==

===General===

*[http://www.wikipedia.org/ Example of an internet site]

*[http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/search.tkl?q=internet&search_crit=subject&search=Search&date1=Anytime&date2=Anytime&type=form Read Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding the Internet]

*[http://www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/geographics/article.php/5911_151151 Internet access stats]

*[http://www.sharpened.net/glossary/ Glossary of Computer and Internet Terms]

*[http://scoreboard.keynote.com/scoreboard/Main.aspx?Login=Y&Username=public&Password=public Internet Health Report] from Keynote

*[http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm Internet World Stats]

===Articles===

*[http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/29/business/net.php "EU and U.S. clash over control of the Net" - International Herald Tribune article by Tom Wright]

*[http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/intro.html "10 Years that changed the world" - WiReD looks back at the evolution of the Internet over last 10 years]

*[http://www.searchandgo.com/articles/internet/net-explained-1.php Internet Explained] Seven part article explaining the origins to the present and a summary for future of the Internet.

*[http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/digital-imprimatur/ John Walker: The Digital Imprimatur]

*[http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet-infrastructure.htm How Stuff Works explanation of the Infrastructure of the Internet]

*[http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,64596,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_7 "It's Just the 'internet' Now" - Wired.com article by Tony Long]

===History===

*[http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml The Internet Society History Page]

*[http://www.internetvalley.com/archives/mirrors/cerf-how-inet.txt How the Internet Came to Be]

*[http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline/ Hobbes' Internet Timeline v8.1]

*[http://www.ciolek.com/PAPERS/e-scholarship2000.html Futures and Non-futures for Scholarly Internet. ]

*[http://www.lk.cs.ucla.edu/internet_history.html History of the Internet links]

*[http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc801.txt RFC 801, planning the TCP/IP switchover]

*[http://www.maniacworld.com/internet_revolution.htm Video of a report on the Internet - before the Web]

*[http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/lazowska/cra/networks.html Vinton Cerf's short history of the Internet]

*[http://www.archive.org/ Internet Archive] - A searchable database of old cached versions of websites dating back to 1996

*[http://www.livinginternet.com/ A comprehensive history with people, concepts and many interesting quotations ]

* A list of lectures, some of which relate to the Internet, from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] is available [http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Comparative-Media-Studies/CMS-930Media--Education--and-the-MarketplaceFall2001/VideoLectures/index.htm here]. Of particular interest is lecture #3 ''The Next Big Thing: Video Internet'' which is delivered in [[Real Player]] format. The lecture gives a brief history of networking; discusses convergence between the internet/telephone/television networks; the expansion of broadband access; makes predictions about the future of delivery of video over the internet.

[[Category:Communication]]

[[Category:Wide area networks]]

[[Category:Digital media]]

[[Category:Digital Revolution]]

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