A historical example: the first commercial ISP
One of the first companies
to take advantage of the new deregulation in that year was the first Internet
Service Provider (ISP) named "The World" was started by Software Tool
and Die (STD). Barry Shein, a former college student, soon grew to
realize the marketability of
the Internet access that he still enjoyed as an alum. He soon
realized
that this
was a service that many other former students might want back. In
1989
his company was the first on the East Coast (Boston) to connect to UUnet
(one of the founders of CIX) as a sort of exchange. STD agreed to let
UUnet use some of its "rack" space in exchange for their providing
a
high-speed Internet connection. People on the East Coast who left their
positions with Internet access were the first to seek out STDıs "The World"
for a home Internet connection. At that point in Internet history all
of the existing network service providers provided access only to information
on their own networks, as well as any other networks they may have been
connected to. The list of these network service providers included the
future giants such as Prodigy, CompuServe, and America Online. This set
"The World" apart as the first true Internet Service Provider (Wilensky).
Barry Shein would prove to be one character who was instrumental to pressuring
the NSF to commercialize their network (Ilacqua).
This example of the first ISP
is not uncommon, many of the larger providers expanded their service to
include similar services. There is no question that the Internet has become
a more commercial entity. The question that remains is: How has this transition
affected society as a whole?
Special thanks to Mr. Shein who
contacted me in November of 2003 to very kindly correct some errors in my
reporting.