Who owns the Internet? 

No one owns the Internet.

Even your Internet Service Provider (ISP) doesn't own the Internet (Net). Instead your ISP functions like a gate keeper - they let you in & then let you out.

However your ISP does not own the road you use to get there.

Your local phone company owns the lines you use to connect to the Net. Regional Bell & long distance carriers own the leased lines used to connect most of the Internet network, now including direct system link (DSL) and satellite microwaves, or wireless.

All these phone lines, DSL cable & wireless microwaves are tied into many high speed links, each called a backbone.

Major communication companies like Sprint, Qwest, ATT, etc. own or rent the backbone links.

Seven major companies are involved in this backbone business, one of them being AOL who owned Advanced Network Services who operated over 12,000 miles of fiber-optic pathways.

But the Net is simply too big to be owned by anyone or any conglomerate.

If you use the Net you are partial owner.

Who runs the Internet?

Just like Internet ownership, no one person or organization runs or governs it. As it is, what appears on the Internet is determined by the user who puts it there. So valuable information co-exists with porn or bomb building instructions.

One could actually spend one's whole life on the Internet without encountering any objectionable material!

Just as several major companies control the backbone of the Internet, several organizations share Internet administration responsibilities.

1) ISOC - The Internet Society
Located in Reston, Va is a non-profit, non-government organization with more than 7000 individual members from 150 countries who all together make up more than 100 ISOC member organizations. These ISOC organizations attempt to address the issues of how to generate progress and growth for the Internet.
http://www.isoc.org/

ISOC's All About The Internet
http://www.isoc.org/internet/
 

2) IETF - The Internet Engineering Task Force
A large open international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. It is open to any interested individual.
http://www.ietf.org/
 

3) ICANN - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
An internationally organized, non-profit corporation, ICANN is responsible for coordinating the management of the technical elements of the DNS. The Domain Name System (DNS) helps users find their way around the Internet.
http://www.icann.org/ 
 

4) IAB - Internet Architecture Board
Responsible for setting & overseeing tech standards enabling world wide users to access & use the Internet.
http://www.iab.org/iab/ 

5) CORE - Council of Registrars
International not-for-profit association of Domain Name Registrars constituted under Swiss Law. CORE's members are professional registrars who handle domain name registration on behalf of customers. Work closely with InterNic.
http://www.corenic.org/

6) InterNic - Collaboration between AT&T and Network Solutions (NSI) supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that oversees the Domain Name Registrars (CORE).
http://www.internic.net/
 

Who Pays for the Internet?

The National Science Foundation (NSF) pays a good portion, another good portion comes from us as Internet users paying our ISP's who then pay their inter-network providers for connection to their servers. The rest of the money comes from advertisers. Just like TV, advertising fees paid across the Internet greatly underwrite many of the costs we would have to pay otherwise.
 

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