Who owns the "internet"? Why do we have to pay to get here?

Question

I was once told that the "internet" was just a large conglomerate of web sites which could communicate with each other and nobody owned it. If this is true; then why do we have to pay to get here? What makes it so expensive?

Answer 1

Well, it isn't very expensive unless you are paying more than $20 a month.
What you are paying for is the communications from your machine to the portal for the internet - DSL, other phone lines, server to gather information.
If you wanted to you could pay for a pure data line ($200 a month I believe) and set up your own server (about $1000) and buy the software to handle the internet.
The internet consists thousands of computers which store data in various forms and a protocol for shifting information between them. The computers look to some reference computers to track down the name you type in as a URL (www.yahoo.com) and convert it to a routing number. Requests are sent asking that a file, form or other data be sent back. Various authorizations are carried out.
Because the internet is so useful for colleges, the defense department, and businesses, the main computer functions are handled for free for the rest of us.
There are many paths to data and in that sense, nobody owns it. But having machines around to catch your request and deliver it back to you does cost money, just like your telephone connection and that is what you are paying for.

Answer 2

You are correct. The internet is a sum of it's parts. You are paying to access the internet through a companies network.
Have you have ever sceen a water system? It starts with a 1/2" pipe in your house that goes to a 2" pipe in your yard. That leads to a 8" main in the middle of the street, and that to a primary 24" or bigger pipe that plugs into the Tower or pump. The tower or pump would be the big servers that run the internet. Like the internet there are usually overlay built in so that if one goes down it does not bring down the system. Just like the water system someone has to build and maintain that system. Nothing is absolutely free. You simply pay to tie into the 2" pipe with your 1/2" pipe (Dialup) or 2" (DSL, cable,T-1) if you need the volume. Of course you could pay several hundred million to develop your own backbone (water tower or pump) and lay out you distribution system.

Answer 3

No one 'owns' the internet, although the network, computers, etc are owned. We pay for access to the internet from companies who provide that access.

Here's a good discussion:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet

Good luck!

Answer 4

Blame Al Gore he invented the internet

Answer 5

the roads free but you pay for gas.
some sites require tolls ;)

(analogy)