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Internet, Definition of |
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Will The Real Internet Please Stand Up? We start with a problem. The problem is that so frequently while discussing legal or regulatory issues related to The Internet, we have no idea what it is that we are talking about. Countless courts, legislative bodies, and packs of pundits have sought to produce definitions of The Internet. Their attempts have at times been poor and misconstrued. Many definitions do not agree. Some talk about applications. Some talk about packets. And others are simply too vague to be of value. And yet, not comprehending the object of the policy, the lawyers go merrily forward constructing on faulty foundation new, imaginative, and perhaps misdirected policy and law. Is it possible to formulate a good definition of The Internet? Is The Internet the technical specs that currently make up The Internet? Is The Internet based on the experience of The Internet by the user? Can a definition of The Internet reflect the robust and flexible nature, in all of its diversity, as it exists today and what it might become tomorrow? Is there something wrong with this simple question about the definition of The Internet that makes it so hard to answer? This paper sets forth on a modest quest: make fun of previous definitions of The Internet; attempt to provide a foundational exploration of what a good understanding of The Internet might look like; and finally, look at why none of this (usually) should or does matter. A response to this modest quest might be that what The Internet is depends upon why you are asking. There may be a degree of truth to this. The cubist will argue that there are multiple perspectives of a horse, all of which are valid. The modernist will argue that how we perceive of the horse depends on where we ourselves stand. Nevertheless, there is a horse there. While there may be multiple perspectives of a horse, looking at the bird sitting on the horse is not looking at the horse. Part of the mission here is to say to the courts or to any other legal body, stop looking at the bird. |
"Internet: The term ''Internet'' means the international computer network of both Federal and non-Federal interoperable packet switched data networks." 47 U.S.C. § 230(f)(1).
"The term 'Internet' has the meaning given the term is section 230(f)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)(1))" 47 USC § 1127.
`The term `Internet' has the meaning given that term in section 230(f)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)(1)).'. - AntiCybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, SEC. 3005. DEFINITIONS.
The term "Internet" means the combination of computer facilities and electromagnetic transmission media, and related equipment and software, comprising the interconnected worldwide network of computer networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol or any successor protocol to transmit the information. 47 U.S.C. § 231(e)(3).
Internet.--The term ``Internet'' means collectively the myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, including equipment and operating software, which comprise the interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or successor protocols to such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio. - Internet Tax Freedom Act
, Pub. L. No. 105-277, Div. C, tit 11, § 1101(e)(3)(C)
(10) INTERNET- The term `Internet' has the meaning given that term in the Internet Tax Freedom Act (47 U.S.C. 151 nt). CAN SPAM Act Sec. 3(10)
47 USC 151 Note Internet Tax Freedom Act, Sec. 1105(d)(4) Internet.-The term 'Internet' means collectively the myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, including equipment and operating software, which comprise the interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or successor protocols to such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio.
INTERNET.-The term "Internet" means collectively the myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, including equipment and operating software, which comprise the interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or successor protocols to such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio. --- The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, Pub. L. No. 105-277, Div. C, tit 13, § 1302(6).
"(2) INTERNET- The term `Internet' means collectively the myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, including equipment and operating software, which comprise the interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor successor protocols to such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio." Broadband Data Improvement Act of 2008
State Statutes
Del. Code Title 11 § 931. Definitions. (12) The "Internet" is a hierarchy of computer networks and systems that includes, but is not limited to, commercial (.com or .co), university (.ac or .edu) and other research networks (.org, .net) and military (.mil) networks and spans many different physical networks and systems around the world.
Regulatory Statements
We use the term “Internet” in this Order similarly to how the Commission has used it previously, inclusive of interconnected public, private, managed, and non-managed IP networks. See, e.g., Pulver, 19 FCC Rcd at 3309, para. 4 (citing GTE Telephone Operating Cos., GTE Tariff No. 1, GTOC Transmittal No. 1148, CC Docket No. 98-79, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 13 FCC Rcd 22466, 22468, para. 5 (1998) (GTE ADSL Order)); see also Inquiry Concerning High-Speed Access to the Internet Over Cable and Other Facilities; Internet Over Cable Declaratory Ruling; Appropriate Regulatory Treatment for Broadband Access to the Internet Over Cable Facilities, GN Docket No. 00-185; CS Docket No. 02-52, Declaratory Ruling and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 17 FCC Rcd 4798, 4799 n.1 (2002) (Cable Modem Declaratory Ruling), aff’d in part , vacated in part, and remanded, Brand X Internet Services v. FCC, 345 F.3d 1120 (9th Cir. 2003), stay granted pending cert. (April 9, 2004), petitions for cert. filed , Nos. 04-277 (Aug. 30, 2004), 04-281 (Aug. 27, 2004) .
- Vonage Holdings Corporation Petition for Declaratory Ruling Concerning an Order of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, WC Docket No. 03-211, Memorandum Opinion and Order n. 10 (FCC Nov. 12, 2004)
The Internet is a distributed packet-switched network of interconnected computers enabling people around the world to communicate with one another, invoke multiple Internet services simultaneously and access information with no knowledge of the physical location of the server where that information resides.7 The Internet represents a paradigmatic shift in network technology: intelligence in the system no longer resides, as it did in the legacy circuit-switched network, primarily in the network itself, but has instead migrated to the edge of a vastly different type of network - to the end user's CPE.
7 See, e.g., GTE Telephone Operating Cos., GTE Tariff No. 1, GTOC Transmittal No. 1148, CC Docket No. 98-
79, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 13 FCC Rcd 22466, 22468, para. 5 (1998) (GTE ADSL Order).
-- In re Petition for Declaratory Ruling that pulver.com's Free World Dialup is Neither Telecommunications Nor a Telecommunications Service, WC Docket No. 03-45, Memorandum Opinion And Order ¶ 4 (FCC February 19, 2004)
3 47 U.S.C. ' 230; see also Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 117 S. Ct. 2329, 2334 (1997).
4 Universal Service Report to Congress, 13 FCC Rcd at 11531, 11532.
5 Id.
--In Re Implementation of the Local Competition Provisions in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Inter-Carrier Compensation for ISP-Bound Traffic, CC Docket No. 96-98, CC Docket No. 99-68, Declaratory Ruling ¶ 3 (February 26, 1999)
[8] 47 U.S.C. ' 230; see also Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 117 S. Ct. 2329, 2334 (1997).
[9] Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, CC Docket No. 96-45, Report to Congress, 13 FCC Rcd 11501, 11531, 11532 (1998) (Universal Service Report to Congress).
[10] Id. at 11531, 11532.
-- In Re GTE Telephone Operators GTOC Tariff No. 1 GTE Transmittal No. 1148, Memorandum Opinion And Order, CC Docket No. 98-79 ¶ 2 (October 30, 1998), recon. denied (February 26, 1999).
[fn382]Kevin Werbach, "Digital Tornado: the Internet and Telecommunications Policy" (OPP Working Paper Series No. 29, 1997) (Digital Tornado) at 10. A packet-switched network is one that transmits information by breaking it into small packets that are independently routed through the network from source to destination according to a destination address that is included in each packet. Packet switching differs from the circuit switching used in Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS): in a circuit-switched network, a dedicated circuit between the parties is established and reserved for the exclusive use of those parties. See Newton's at 527.
-- In re Application of WorldCom, Inc. and MCI Communications Corporation for Transfer of Control of MCI Communications Corporation to WorldCom, Inc., Report and Order, CC Docket No. 97-211 ¶ 143 (September 14, 1998).
Today Show January 1994...What is the Internet?!
Caselaw
The Internet is a network of interconnected computers. Data transmitted across the Internet are broken down into small "packets" that are forwarded from one computer to another until they reach their destination, where they are reconstituted. See Orin S. Kerr, Internet Surveillance Law After the USA Patriot Act: The Big Brother that Isn't, 97 Nw. U. L. Rev. 607, 613-14 (2003). Each service on the Internet -- e.g., e-mail, the World Wide Web, or instant messaging -- has its own protocol for using packets of
data to transmit information from one place to another. The e-mail protocol is known as Simple Mail Transfer Protocol ("SMTP").
United States v. Councilman, ___ F3d ___ at 3 (1st Cir. Aug 11, 2005)
The Internet is a network of computers that allows a user to gain access to information stored on any other computer on the network. Information on the Internet is lodged on files called web pages, which can include printed matter, sound, pictures, and links to other web pages. An Internet user can move from one page to another with just the click of a mouse.
-- Sporty's Farm L.L.C., V. Sportsman's Market, Inc., 202 F.3d 489, 492 (2nd Cir. 2000)
The Internet is a global “network of networks” that allows Internet users to send and receive a huge diversity of content and communications. - CDT v. Pappert, No. 03-5051, Slip Op. at 8 (EDPa Sept. 10, 2004)
16. The Internet is an international computer ³super-network² of over 15,000 computer networks which is used by 30 million or more individuals, corporations, organization and educational institutions worldwide. Users of the Internet can access each others computers, can communicate directly with each other (by means of electronic mail or ³e-mail²), and can access various types of data and information. Each Internet user has an address, consisting of one or more address components, which address is otherwise commonly referred to within the Internet as a ³domain² or ³domain name.²
-- PLAYBOY ENTERPRISES, INC. v. UNIVERSAL TEL-A-TALK, INC., ADULT DISCOUNT TOYS, and STANLEY HUBERMAN Civil Action No. 96-6961 November 2, 1998 Filed: November 3, 1998 (enjoining defendant from using Playboy trademark on or in its websites)
Unlike on-line computer services such as CompuServe and America On Line, no one runs the Internet....
No one pays for the Internet because the network itself doesn't exist as a separate entity. Instead various universities and organizations pay for the dedicated lines linking their computers. Individual users may pay an Internet provider for access to the Internet via its server.
David Bruning, Along the InfoBahn, ASTRONOMY, Vol. 23, No. 6, p. 76 (June 1995).
-Religious Technology Center v. Netcom Online Communications Service, 907 F.Supp. 1361 n. 2 (NDCa Nov 21, 1995) (copyright holder brought action against Internet access provider seeking to hold provider liable for alleged infringement of provider's subscriber).
The Internet is a combination of several hundred million computer networks and associated sites which are interconnected throughout the world. The routers are computers dedicated to the interconnection of these networks…. A set of procedures was defined in the period between 1973 and 1980 under the control of the US defence research laboratories (DARPA). These procedures, referred to as TCP/IP, are the core of several hundred protocols used by the Internet.
- LICRA v. Yahoo!, Interim Court Order, ( County Court Paris Nov. 20, 2000 ) (as translated) http://www.cdt.org/speech/international/001120yahoofrance.pdf
Other Sources
IETF
"What is the Internet? In the beginning there was the ARPANET, a wide area experimental network connecting hosts and terminal servers together. Procedures were set up to regulate the allocation of addresses and to create voluntary standards for the network. As local area networks became more pervasive, many hosts became gateways to local networks. A network layer to allow the interoperation of these networks was developed and called Internet Protocol (IP). Over time other groups created long haul IP based networks (NASA, NSF, states...). These nets, too, interoperate because of IP. The collection of all of these interoperating networks is the Internet." - IETF RFC 1118, Hitchhikers Guide to the Internet (Sept 1989)
E Krol , E. Hoffman, RFC 1462, FYI on "What is the Internet" ? (May 1993) (" Today's Internet is a global resource connecting millions of users that began as an experiment over 20 years ago by the U.S. Department of Defense. While the networks that make up the Internet are based on a standard set of protocols (a mutually agreed upon method of communication between parties), the Internet also has gateways to networks and services that are based on other protocols. ")
Early Uses of the Term
The protocol they invented is known by its initials, TCP/IP - standing for the mouthful Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol. It is significant historically for originating the use of the term Internet, in about 1973, as a handy abbreviation for the "inter-networking of networks." [Nerds p 111]
Federal Networking Council
"On October 24, 1995, the FNC unanimously passed a resolution defining the term Internet. This definition was developed in consultation with members of the internet and intellectual property rights communities.
RESOLUTION:
The Federal Networking Council (FNC) agrees that the following language reflects our definition of the term "Internet".
"Internet" refers to the global information system that --
-- FNC Resolution: Definition of "Internet" 10/24/95(i) is logically linked together by a globally unique address space based on the Internet Protocol (IP) or its subsequent extensions/follow-ons;
(ii) is able to support communications using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite or its subsequent extensions/follow-ons, and/or other IP-compatible protocols; and
(iii) provides, uses or makes accessible, either publicly or privately, high level services layered on the communications and related infrastructure described herein."
DOD DISA
"Internet protocol definition. This standard specifies a host IP. As defined in the DoD architectural model, the Internet Protocol resides in the internetwork layer. Thus, the IP provides services to transport layer protocols and relies on the services of the lower network layer protocol (See figure 1). In each gateway (a system interconnecting two or more subnets) an IP resides above two or more subnetwork protocol entities. Gateways implement internet protocol to forward datagrams between networks. Gateways also implement the Gateway to Gateway Protocol (GGP) to coordinate routing and other internet control information." Military Standard Internet Protocol MIL-STD-1777 Sec. 4.2 (DOD DISA Aug 12, 1983)
Other
The Internet is a worldwide network of networks comprised of servers, routers, and backbone networks. Network addresses are used to help send information from one computer to another over the Internet by routing the information to its final destination. The protocol that enables the
administration of these addresses is the Internet protocol (IP). The most widely deployed version of IP is version 4 (IPv4).
GAO, Internet Protocol version 6, Federal Agencies Need to Plan for Transition and Manage Security Risks (May 2005)
FTC: "INTERNET - the universal network that allows computers to talk to other computers in words, text, graphics, and sound, anywhere in the world." - FTC, Site Seeing On The Internet June 1998
internet (Lower case i)
Any time you connect 2 or more networks together, you have an internet - as in inter-national or inter-state.
Internet (Upper case I)
The vast collection of inter-connected networks that are connected using the TCP/IP protocols and that evolved from the
ARPANET of the late 60's and early 70's.
The Internet connects tens of thousands of independent networks into a vast global internet and is probably the largest Wide
Area Network in the world.
Glossary of Internet Terms, Matisse.Net
The Internet, as is well known, is a vast, interactive medium based on a decentralized network of computers around the world. Its most familiar feature is the World Wide Web (the "Web"), a network of computers known as servers that provide content to users. -- ALA v. United States, CA 01-1303, Sec. I (ED PA May 31, 2002) http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/02D0415P.HTM
The Internet is a network of computers that allows a user to gain access to information stored on any other computer on the network. Information on the Internet is lodged on files called web pages, which can include printed matter, sound, pictures, and links to other web pages. An Internet user can move from one page to another with just the click of a mouse.
-- Sporty's Farm L.L.C., V. Sportsman's Market, Inc., 202 F.3d 489, 492 (2nd Cir. 2000)
The Internet is an international network of interconnected computers that enables tens of millions of people, if not more, to communicate with one another and to access vast amounts of information from around the world. See Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U.S. 844, 850 (1997). Information on the Internet is housed on webpages.
-- Bihari v. Gross, No. OO Civ. 1664 (SAS), 1 (SDNY Sept 25, 2000).
Before reciting the facts established by the evidence, I begin with a brief explanation of the relevant technology. The Internet, or the World Wide Web, is a network of computers that allows people to access information stored on other computers within the network. See Sporty's Farm L.L.C. v. Sportsman's Market, Inc., 202 F.3d 489, 492 (2d Cir.2000). "Information on the Internet is lodged on files called web pages, which can include printed matter, sound, pictures, and links to other web pages. An Internet user can move from one page to another with just the click of a mouse." Id. Web pages or web sites are designated by addresses called domain names.
-- Morrison & Foerster LLP, v. Brian Wick and American Distribution Systems, Inc., No. CIV.A.00-B-465., 94 F.Supp.2d 1125, 1126 (D.Co. April 19, 2000).
"Accordingly, we concluded that ISP traffic must be analyzed as a continuous transmission from the end user to a distant Internet website." In Re GTE Telephone Operators GTOC Tariff No. 1 GTE Transmittal No. 1148, Memorandum Opinion And Order, CC Docket No. 98-79 ¶ 3 (February 26, 1999), recon. denied (February 26, 1999).
"Having concluded that the jurisdictional treatment of GTE's ADSL service offering is determined by the nature of the end-to-end transmission between an end user and the Internet website accessed by the end user, we now must decide whether that transmission does in fact constitute an interstate telecommunication." -- In re GTE Telephone Operators GTOC Tariff No. 1 GTE Transmittal No. 1148, Memorandum Opinion And Order, CC Docket No. 98-79 ¶ 22 (February 26, 1999), recon. denied (February 26, 1999).
Consistent with these precedents,[36] we conclude, as explained further below, that the communications at issue here do not terminate at the ISP's local server, as CLECs and ISPs contend,[37] but continue to the ultimate destination or destinations, specifically at a Internet website that is often located in another state.[38]
[fn36] Although the cited cases involve interexchange carriers rather than ISPs, and the Commission has observed that "it is not clear that ISPs use the public switched network in a manner analogous to IXCs," Access Charge Reform Order, 12 FCC Rcd at 16133, the Commission's observation does not affect the jurisdictional analysis.
[fn37] See, e.g., ACSI Comments at 5; Adelphia, et al., Comments at 12-13; ALTS Letter at 6-7; Cox Comments at 5.
[fn38] This conclusion is fully consistent with BellSouth MemoryCall. Although MCI WorldCom relies on BellSouth MemoryCall to support its argument that the ISP is the relevant endpoint for purposes of the jurisdictional analysis (see Letter from Richard S. Whitt, Director -- Federal Affairs/Counsel, MCI WorldCom, Inc., to Magalie R. Salas, Secretary, FCC (October 2, 1998)), there, as here, the Commission analyzed the communication from its inception to the "transmission's ultimate destination." BellSouth Memory Call, 7 FCC Rcd at 1621.
--In Re Implementation of the Local Competition Provisions in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Inter-Carrier Compensation for ISP-Bound Traffic, CC Docket No. 96-98, CC Docket No. 99-68, Declaratory Ruling ¶ 12 (February 26, 1999)
The term "Internet access service" means a service that enables users to access content, information, electronic mail, and other services offered over the Internet, and may also include access to proprietary content, information, and other services as part of a package of services offered to consumers. Such term does not include telecommunications services. 47 U.S.C. § 231(e)(4).
Internet Tax Freedom Act Sec. 1101(d)(3)(D) "Internet access service.-The term 'Internet access service' means a service that enables users to access content, information, electronic mail, or other services offered over the Internet and may also include access to proprietary content, information, and other services as part of a package of services offered to consumers. The term 'Internet access service' does not include telecommunications services, except to the extent such services are purchased, used, or sold by a provider of Internet access to provide Internet access.
Internet access provider.-The term 'Internet access provider' means a person engaged in the business of providing a computer and communications facility through which a customer may obtain access to the Internet, but does not include a common carrier to the extent that it provides only telecommunications services. Internet Tax Freedom Act Sec. 1101(e)(2)(A).
Internet access services.-The term 'Internet access services' means the provision of computer and communications services through which a customer using a computer and a modem or other communications device may obtain access to the Internet, but does not include telecommunications services provided by a common carrier. Internet Tax Freedom Act Sec. 1101(e)(2)(B).
The term "Internet access" means a service that enables users to access content, information, electronic mail, and other services offered over the Internet, and may also include access to proprietary content, information, and other services as part of a package of services offered to consumers. Such term does not include telecommunications services. Internet Tax Freedom Act Sec. 1104(5).
"The section defines 'Internet access' as a service that enables users to access content, information, and other services offered over the Internet, but does not mean a telecommunications service. By including the phrase, "but does not mean a telecommunications service," the Committee intends to clarify that nothing in this section is meant to limit the FCC's or a State commission's ability to regulate basic telecommunications services. This section also reserves authority for the FCC and State commissions to regulate telecommunications carriers that offer telecommunications services bundled with Internet access or online services. Internet access and online services are both considered 'information services' under the FCC's existing interpretations of the Communications Act." -- The Internet Tax Freedom Act, H.R. Report. 105-570(I)
(5) Internet access.-The term 'Internet access'-
"(A) means a service that enables users to connect to the Internet to access content, information, or other services offered over the Internet;
"(B) includes the purchase, use or sale of telecommunications by a provider of a service described in subparagraph (A) to the extent such telecommunications are purchased, used or sold-
"(i) to provide such service; or
"(ii) to otherwise enable users to access content, information or other services offered over the Internet;
"(C) includes services that are incidental to the provision of the service described in subparagraph (A) when furnished to users as part of such service, such as a home page, electronic mail and instant messaging (including voice- and video-capable electronic mail and instant messaging), video clips, and personal electronic storage capacity;
"(D) does not include voice, audio or video programming, or other products and services (except services described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (E)) that utilize Internet protocol or any successor protocol and for which there is a charge, regardless of whether such charge is separately stated or aggregated with the charge for services described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (E); and
"(E) includes a homepage, electronic mail and instant messaging (including voice- and video-capable electronic mail and instant messaging), video clips, and personal electronic storage capacity, that are provided independently or not packaged with Internet access.
Internet Tax Freedom Act Sec
52 Universal Service Order, 12 FCC Rcd at 9179-80, paras. 788-89.
53 Id. at 9180, para. 789. The Commission also noted that section 254(h)(2)(A) calls on it to enhance "access to advanced telecommunications and information services," and concluded that the phrase would be redundant if "information services were a subset of advanced telecommunications." Id.
The office of Senator Stevens asserts that information services are inherently telecommunications services because information services are offered via "telecommunications." We observe that ISPs alter the format of information through computer processing applications such as protocol conversion and interaction with stored data, while the statutory definition of telecommunications only includes transmissions that do not alter the form or content of the information sent. When a subscriber obtains a connection to an Internet service provider via voice grade access to the public switched network, that connection is a telecommunications service and is distinguishable from the Internet service provider's service offering. The language in section 254(h)(2) also indicates that information services are not inherently telecommunications services. Section 254(h)(2) states that the Commission must enhance access to advanced telecommunications and information services. If information services were a subset of advanced telecommunications, it would be repetitive to list specifically information services in that subsection.
--Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, CC Docket No. 96-45, Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 8776. ¶ 789 (1997) (Universal Service Order), as corrected by Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Errata, CC Docket No. 96-45, FCC 97-157 (rel. June 4, 1997), appeal pending in Texas Office of Public Utility Counsel v. FCC and USA, No. 97-60421 (5th Cir. 1997) | Word Perfect | Adobe | Zip |
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47 CFR § 54.5
Internet access. "Internet access" includes the following elements:
(1) The transmission of information as common carriage;
(2) The transmission of information as part of a gateway to an information service, when that transmission does not involve the generation or alteration of the content of information, but may include data transmission, address translation, protocol conversion, billing management, introductory information content, and navigational systems that enable users to access information services, and that do not affect the presentation of such information to users; and
Internet service providers (ISPs), in turn, link those calls to the Internet network, not only by providing a physical connection, but also by offering consumers the ability to translate raw Internet data into information they may both view on their personal computers and transmit to other computers connected to the Internet. See In re Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, 13 FCC Rcd. 11501, 11531, ¶ 63 (1998) (hereinafter Universal Service Report); P. Huber, M. Kellogg, & J. Thorne, Federal Telecommunications Law 988 (2d ed. 1999) (hereinafter Huber); 345 F. 3d, at 1123–1124.
NCTA v. BrandX, No. 04-277, slip at 2 (S.Ct. June 27, 2005) (notice that the lower court got the definition of an ISP much better)
Approximately 80 percent of those connections are "dial-up" connections. Such connections use the wires owned by local telephone companies to connect the user's computer to an Internet Service Provider's ("ISP's") "point of presence," which in turn is connected to the Internet "backbone." In addition to providing a connection to the Internet, most ISPs also provide services - including email, user support, and the ability to build web pages on the ISP's servers - as well as proprietary content. Customers connecting to the Internet via a traditional narrowband connection have many ISPs to choose from: There are thousands of such providers nationwide. But because of the limitations of the wires connecting the user's computer to the ISP's point of presence, data transmission over them is quite slow and does not afford users the capacity to access streaming video or audio content.
-- BrandX v FCC, Sec. I, 9th Cir 10/6/2003
74. See Federal - State Joint Board on Universal Service, CC Docket No. 96-45, > Report to Congress, 13 FCC Rcd at 11540, P 81 (1998)(hereinafter SS7FUniversal Service Report to Congress").
75. Id. at 13 FCC Rcd 11532-11533, P 66.
76. Id. at 11536, P73. In fact, a service would not satisfy the definition of "information service" unless it had an underlying "telecommunications" component. Further, the telecommunications inputs underlying Internet services are subject to the universal service contribution mechanism. As the Commission has previously explained, "Companies that are in the business of offering basic interstate telecommunications functionality to end users are 'telecommunications carriers," and therefore are covered under the relevant provisions of > sections 251 and > 254 of the Act. Id. at P105
Deployment of Wireline Services Offiering Advanced Telecommunications Capability, CC Docket No 98-147, Order on Remand, 15 FCC Rcd 385, ¶ 34 (1999).
[6] Id. at 11532.
[7] Id. at 11531.
[8] The Commission has acknowledged the significance of end users being able to place local, rather than toll, calls to ISPs, in analyzing, among other things, universal service issues. See, e.g., Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 8776, 9142-43, 9159, 9160 (1997) (Universal Service Order); Universal Service Report to Congress, 13 FCC Rcd at 11541-42.
----In Re Implementation of the Local Competition Provisions in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Inter-Carrier Compensation for ISP-Bound Traffic, CC Docket No. 96-98, CC Docket No. 99-68, Declaratory Ruling ¶ 4 (February 26, 1999)
Notes
TCP Basic functions in header:
Basic end to end data transfer
Reliability
Flow Control
Error Correction
Multiplexing applications
integrity
UDP User Datagram Protocol
Basic function in header
Basis end to end data transfer
Multiplexing applications
Integrity
(no retransmission scheme)
Ports: Allows IP hosts to multiplex applications
Port 80 – web
Port 25 – email
Probably about 8000 defined ports – registered at www.iana.org
Sockets
Allow host to track simultaneous TCP connections
Combination of IP addresses and Ports for each process
IP Header
Basic Functions in header
Addressing
Fragmentation
Timeout
Higher level protocol identification (identifies next protocol – TCP, UDP,….)
IP protocol number
6 = TCP
50 = VPN
17 = UDP
Web services provided by
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