Often abbreviated as the Net. The global collection of networks that transfer information between each other using Internet Protocol. Interestingly, the Internet was named after the protocol rather than the other way around. The Internet was created by the US Military as a network designed to transmit data even if one point of the network went down (i.e. - due to nucleur attack). It was called ARPAnet. Universities and research institutes began to connect to the network and exchange research information. Users made information or software freely available and were able to access others' information for free as well (in this beginning we see the roots of the Net's culture of giving and netiquette). The NSF took over the Internet and established an official Acceptable Use Policy that prohibited for-profit activities. A CERN physicist developed a hypertext system which spread over the Internet and became the World Wide Web.