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DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
& CULTUREAn Open Education Resource


3.0 DTC 101

The Internet

The Internet, short for "interconnected network" and sometimes referred to as "The Net", is made up of a range of information resources and services, such as the World Wide Web, electronic mail, telephony, and file sharing. As a "network of networks", it interconnects private, public, academic, business, and government networks across the globe. The Internet today evolved in an adhoc manner, developing technologies, protocols and standards as the network grew in size and complexity. Although The Internet has no centralized governance, each participating network sets up its own policies and some of the technical standardization is handled by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), a non-profit organization of loosely affiliated international participants.

This chapter will focus on the social effects of digital networks in combination with cultures that support "free" and "open" information systems as core aspects of the rapid growth and complextity of The Internet.

3.1 Networks

Network Topologies
(the arrangements of links or nodes in a communication network)

A network is defined as “an interconnected or interrelated chain, group, or system.” Although the science of networks is several hundred years old, it is in the age of electric (high speed) communications that the study of the interaction and behavior of complex relational data emerges. Complex networks such as telecommunication networks, computer networks, cognitive networks, and social networks all share distinct characteristics and emergent behavior. Networks are made up of individual nodes and the links that connect these nodes. A node with a greater than average amount of links in the network, is called a hub and often has the role of linking other nodes. Because networks contain multiple and divergent pathways between nodes, they exhibit nonlinearity, decentralization, interconnectedness and interdependence.

In a random network, new nodes attach themselves to a random node in the network, creating an unpredictable branching structure. In a small-world network, a controlled mathemetical graph makes it so that any node can be reached from any other node in a small number of steps. In a scale-free network, new nodes attach to hubs —nodes with the most connection to the other nodes. A scale-free network has the tendency to grow by favoring the already more active nodes. For example, Google and Facebook have grown exponentially to be such dominant hubs on the web, because anyone who goes online will want to use the services that everyone else seems to be using. In a random network, a new node will link itself to just a random node. And in a small-world network, nodes follow strict algorithms for linking.

The network effect in scale-free networks favors the growth of already popular nodes. This can seem to result in "the rich getting richer." However, active hubs can be rejected if they fail as connectors or if a better more active hub emerges. MySpace lost its dominant role as an online social network, because Facebook had more to offer as a hub for social interaction. In this case, the network effect was negative for MySpace and positive for Facebook.

Networks favor decentralization and nonlinearity as opposed to hierarchy and narrative sequence. The internet, in its early days, was thought of as just another form of mass media. But as the internet grew, without a plan or centralized control, it became clear that this was another kind of medium altogether. A medium that grew community networks, networks of knowledge and created a "network culture." To understand the social and cultural impact of the Internet, the video below gives a sense of the "power of networks" in an increasingly complex world.

3.2 A Network of Networks

ARPANET Map
source

The Internet grew out of the efforts to connect the local computer networks of remote research institutions; to build a “network of networks” for the sharing of data and scientific research. The funding for this initial work came from the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US Department of Defense and the result was ARPANET.

Key Stages of Internet Growth

ARPANET: the first instance of what would later become the Internet. On October 29, 1969 the first message was sent from a computer at UCLA to one at Stanford University. ARPANET used packet-swiching to break messages into small units that could be distributed across networks and put back together at the desitination, a specific computer address or IP address.

A Packet Network: unlike the telephone system's circuit network, where each conversation has a dedicated circuit, information on the Internet is sent in standardized individual packets that are routed dynamically through a changing collection of networks. This makes for a robust and efficient system for delivering information across networks.

Internet Protocol: the Internet has a few rules and standards for how users interact in the network. One of these protocols is the Internet Protocol or IP, which defines packet structures that hold the data to be delivered across the Internet. IP also defines addressing methods to label packets with source and destination information. An IP address is a numerical label (such as 216.3.128.12) assigned to each device connected to a computer network. To be on the Internet, there must be a computer device with a specific address so that messages can be sent and recieved. IP addresses are managed globally by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and IP registries responsible for assigning users in designated territories.

TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol or TCP, which works with Internet Protocol, is rule-bound standard for establishing and maintaining a network connection and the exchange of data. TCP with IP defines how computers send packets of data to each other.

Email: Electronic Mail or Email operates across the Internet. In the early 1980s, email systems required the author and the recipient to both be online at the same time. Today's email systems are based on a "store-and-forward model. Email servers accept, forward, deliver, and store messages. Users need to connect to the network for as long as it takes to send or receive messages. Unlike the simultaneity of telecommunications, exchange with email allows for instant, yet asynchronous exchange.

World Wide Web: with the creation of Hypertext Markup Language or HTML in 1989, Internet documents could link to each other. This linking created neworks of knowledge that are independent of the underling networks of hardware. The rapid growth of the Web, based on human language communication, emerges as a new network "on top" of the networks of computers. A user joins an Internet Service Provider or ISP to connect to the Internet, but joins a "kite flying" forum to connect with a like-minded community.

Networked Media: with growth of high-speed interent connections in the 2000s, media besides just data and text — images, sound files, video files, geolocation and VR data — travel the Internet as packets to mutiple destinations. This makes the reproduction and remediation of complex and multimodal ideas across a global network effortless and nearly instantaneous. Media becomes conversational. This socializing with and through media brings new layers of cultural networks on top of the Internet.

Internet of Things: as individual objects are embedded with computing devices with IP addresses, and are connected to the Internet, their data (such as geolocation) can be tracked and monitored and made available to a global network. Someone searching to purchase a type of bolt or a Ming Dynasty vase may get an exact location, pricing and description delivered with out human intervention.



Types of Networks on the Internet

Personal Area Network (PAN): a personal area network enables communication between computer devices near a person.

Local Area Network (LAN): a local network, for example a home or office network, connect computers via ethernet or WiFi that connects to a router that connects to an Internet Service Provider or ISP.

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN): a wireless computer network links two or more devices using wireless communication to form a local area network.

Campus Area Network (CAN): a campus area network is made up of an interconnection of local area networks within a limited geographical area.

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN): a metropolitan area network (MAN) interconnects users with computer resources in a geographic area or region larger than that covered by even a large local area network (LAN) but smaller than the area covered by a wide area network

Wide Area Network (WAN): a computer network in which the computers connected may be far apart, generally having a radius of half a mile or more.

Storage-Area Network (SAN): is storage-area network is a specialized, high-speed network that provides network access to storage.

3.3 Free vs. Open Source


"On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. ... On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other." - Stewart Brand at a hacker's conference in 1984

Valuable information has a cost because there is often labor and expertise in getting and diseminating good information. But some information can only work if it is free and easy to share. Sometimes free information can lead to it being expensive information. A new band needs to get their music heard before they can hope to sell an album. In general, we are all happier with few restrictions on the access to information, and a way to foster and reward the creation of information we want. Free Internet, free libraries, free shared media with friends creates value for expensive media.

The expression "information wants to be free" was adopted by technology activists who criticized laws limiting transparency and general access to information, especially of software and data. The Internet grew because it started as a distributed network for freely sharing information and data. The only barrier to access is a computer. The fact that a website's text, media and source code can easily be copied from a browser is a significant reason for the World Wide Web's growth. People in general do not just want to take information, they also want to share that information. This is how cultural ideas, from language to storytelling to belief systems, work. The challenge with digital technology and media is how to create reasonable intellectual property laws and mechanisms so that creators can benefit either financially and socially from their creations, and also allow for the free flow of ideas through networks.

Creativity and the Law

Laws that choke creativity | Larry Lessig | TED, 2007

Public Domain: The public domain is all creative works that do not have exclusive intellectual property rights because they have either been expired, forfeited or waived. These works can be remixed and distributed without liability. Google can search for public domain media, but some sites provide access to collections of public domain works: archive.org, retrofilmvault.com, https://www.gutenberg.org/

Fair Use: Fair Use is a belief that anyone—but especially artists, scholars, critics and journalists—should be allowed to sample portions of copyrighted materials for purposes of commentary and criticism. Without this freedom, copyright owners could take away freedom of speech. Legally, however, a copyright owner may challenge this notion in court.

Creative Commons: Larry Lessig founded Creative Commons to "expand the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share." The site provides free copyright-licenses to the public to use as labels on their creations.

The Free Software Movement, the Open Source Movement and Hacker Movement, though different in the their aims and tactics, all share a general critique of intellectual property law and argue that a system of such strict government-control of information is in conflict with public interests, be they political, economic or cultural. In general, networks thrive with a combination of rules and freedom. The danger of too many rules, means that a network comes under centralized control. The danger of too few rules, means that small communities of common interest weaken as dominant nodes take advantage of weaker nodes.

The Free Software Movement

“Free software” means software that respects users' freedom and community. Roughly, it means that the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. Thus, “free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer”. We sometimes call it “libre software,” borrowing the French or Spanish word for “free” as in freedom, to show we do not mean the software is gratis. from gnu.org

A program is free software if the program's users have the four essential freedoms:

  • The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose.
  • The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish. Access to the source code is a precondition for this..
  • The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others (freedom 2)
  • The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others. By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

The Open Source Movement

(from opensource.org)

Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code. The distribution terms of open-source software must comply with the following criteria:

  • Free Redistribution: The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.

  • Source Code: The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form. Where some form of a product is not distributed with source code, there must be a well-publicized means of obtaining the source code for no more than a reasonable reproduction cost, preferably downloading via the Internet without charge. The source code must be the preferred form in which a programmer would modify the program. Deliberately obfuscated source code is not allowed. Intermediate forms such as the output of a preprocessor or translator are not allowed.

  • Derived Works: The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.

  • Integrity of The Author's Source Code: The license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified form only if the license allows the distribution of "patch files" with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time. The license must explicitly permit distribution of software built from modified source code. The license may require derived works to carry a different name or version number from the original software.

  • No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.

  • No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor: The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.

  • Distribution of License: The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.

  • License Must Not Be Specific to a Product: The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a particular software distribution. If the program is extracted from that distribution and used or distributed within the terms of the program's license, all parties to whom the program is redistributed should have the same rights as those that are granted in conjunction with the original software distribution.

  • License Must Not Restrict Other Software: The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be open-source software.

  • License Must Be Technology-Neutral: No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface.

Open Source and Innovation

3.4 Unit Exercise: Seeing the Internet

  1. Find the IP address of your computer.
  2. Find your current Internet Service Provider or ISP.
  3. Search a random Wikipedia page.
  4. See live statistics of the Internet.
  5. Look at live maps of marine traffic.
  6. Visit a map that tracks wikipedia edits around the world in real time.
  7. Visit random streetview.

3.5 Glossary

3.5 Bibliography

Greene, Rachel. Internet Art. Thames & Hudson, 2004.

“Internet.” Wikipedia, 30 Aug. 2019. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Internet&oldid=913188681.

Kernighan, Brian W. D Is for Digital: What a Well-Informed Person Should Know about Computers and Communications. 8/24/11 edition, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2011.

“Network Theory.” Wikipedia, 7 July 2019. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Network_theory&oldid=905123915.

“Scale-Free Network.” Wikipedia, 2 Sept. 2019. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scale-free_network&oldid=913650999.

“Small-World Network.” Wikipedia, 23 July 2019. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Small-world_network&oldid=907494262.