Description: The Internet is everywhere. It's part of our lives and it appears to be here to stay. But, what is "the Internet?" Most of us simply perceive it to be a big, single, seamless structure -- when, in fact, it is actually a set of largely autonomous, loosely coordinated communication networks. The basic technology of the Internet -- the protocols used to communicate across it -- hides these realities and the true nature of the Internet. But, as its influence continues to grow, understanding the reality of the Internet's infrastructure is imperative to acting on a wide range of policy issues.

This timely new book explains basic design choices that underlie the Internet's success, identifies key trends in the evolution of the Internet, evaluates current and prospective technical, operational, and management challenges, and explores the resulting implications for decision makers. The committee -- composed of distinguished leaders from both the corporate and academic community -- makes recommendations aimed at policy makers, industry, and researchers.

It covers a variety of important and thought-provoking issues, among them:
-- How the Internet's constituent parts are truly interlinked.
-- The economic and technical complications involved in maintaining the Internet's seamless appearance.
-- Tensions inherent between open innovation on the Internet and the ability of innovators to capture the commercial value of their breakthroughs.
-- The scaling challenges the Internet faces as it grows to meet the demands of users in the future.
-- Regulatory issues posed by the Internet's entry into other sectors, such as telephony.

This book will be helpful to anyone seeking tounderstand what lies at the heart of the Internet's success -- and looking for direction as the Internet continues to take shape.

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