Revisiting the Origins: The Internet and its Early Governance

Abstract

This chapter sets the stage for the long-term analysis of the evolution of the field. In the early days the Internet was a rather homogenous domain, closely linked to computer science and networking experiments. The rules designed for its management were function- and efficiency-driven. Starting in 1983, different forms of governance, combining public and private initiatives, begin to profile, largely around an active community of professionals in the ARPA network. Until the expansion and commercialization of the Internet in the mid-1990s, the predominant governance route was that of standards and protocols making networks interoperable. In a path-dependent trajectory, Internet services remained exempted from regulation.