The Internet is a computer network that was designed to interconnect other computer networks. Its origins lie in the ARPANET, an experimental network designed for the U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in 1969. The original ARPANET had some features that were unique in its day.

The first unique feature was that it supported peer to peer networking. In this system, each computer has the same rights and abilities as any other computer on the network. The commercial computer networks at that time were hierarchical, where some devices performed special control functions, and other devices had to wait for permission to transmit from the controller.

Another unique feature of ARPANET was that it was not designed with a particular application or set of applications in mind. The designers created a network whose uses were not fully specified. As a result, ARPANET...