# Why is there only one Internet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528 "2011-04-07T15:18:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528/21 "2011-04-07T20:53:49Z")
Why is there only one in a historic and technical sense? Because there’s little incentive for multiple networks, or protocols. Standardization works wonders in technology. When I was a kid you either had a prodigy or compuserve email. Or an email on some BBS that might or might not forward. Or you used something like Fidonet. In the meantime universities and larger organizations were standardizing on TCP/IP which is the protocol of the Internet. The Internet is just a name of a bunch of networks tied together and speaking TCP/IP. Time Berners Lee invented the Web, which is an application that runs on the internet. It became very popular very quickly the old proprietary systems and walled gardens quickly fell as people started using Internet based communications like SMTP for email and Web for content instead of logging into Prodigy or the local BBS. It was quite revolutionary and unexpected. The main reason the internet is popular is because it doesn’t consist of 100 different protocols and providers who refuse to talk to each other. We expect name resolution (DNS) to work and the ability to route packets wherever we choose. On top of this we can build things like the web, twitter, email, steaming video, etc. The internet doesn’t make sense if there were two of them or ten of them. If there were then all this stuff would fail to work. That said, China has been threatening to run its own DNS, but its a lot of talk IMHO. They would divorce themselves from the world and the real cost of that would be tremendous. Look at North Korea’s attempt to be an island onto itself. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528/22 "2011-04-07T21:01:52Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > There is no such thing as “an I2 computer.” I2 is a _network_. And I can and do connect to computers on that network all the time. I can’t do it _via_ I2, since I don’t have a connection to that network and no commercial ISPs peer with them. > > When a guy at Big National Laboratory needs to share a 5TB dataset with another dude at Big State University, he doesn’t press a magic “I2” button on his computer, or walk a disk over to a special “I2 computer” to send it. He simply sends the file and his institution’s routers route it over the correct network. The use of I2 is completely transparent, _because it is just an IP network_. That’s what it’s for. > > ETA: If it helps, think of I2 as a really, really big WAN with dedicated fiber (instead of a VPN, for instance.) Your corporate WAN is still “part of the Internet,” even if it’s behind a NAT gateway and your router has one connection to a VPN to talk with other offices and another connection to the public Internet. Building X computers at Big National Laboratory can be routed to I2 only and don’t have to be connected to the internet. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528/23 "2011-04-07T21:05:21Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > Building X computers at Big National Laboratory can be routed to I2 only and don’t have to be connected to the internet. They _could_ be, but they aren’t, because that would be stupid. In fact, I bet it wouldn’t even work. BNL would need to access nameservers on the public Internet to resolve any hostnames for routing over I2. They’re far too big to be manually distributing hosts files. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528/24 "2011-04-07T21:23:18Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > They _could_ be, but they aren’t, because that would be stupid. > > In fact, I bet it wouldn’t even work. BNL would need to access nameservers on the public Internet to resolve any hostnames for routing over I2. They’re far too big to be manually distributing hosts files. Abilene has its own DNS servers. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528/25 "2011-04-07T21:28:01Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > Building X computers at Big National Laboratory can be routed to I2 only and don’t have to be connected to the internet. That’s like saying that all of the computers on my home network don’t have to be connected to the internet. Of course they don’t _have_ to be, I can just string a series of Linksys routers together, between me and my neighbors, and we could even use Bonjour IM. That doesn’t mean it’s the internet, that means it’s a large, local network. Even if I ran a cable from New York City to Boston, and hooked up both cities, entirely, to the new network and broke (magically) the “old internet,” it’d still just be a small ghost of a network in comparison to the _actual_ internet. Plenty of companies have their own private Intranets, usually “before” the internet. At the company I’m with, all of the their computers (world wide) are on the same network, we can click “network connections” and see every computer on the local intranet (_thousands_ of them). We can even access web pages – typing in “Wired” and pressing enter into the address bar doesn’t redirect to [wired.com](http://wired.com), it redirects to wired.[internal].com, and you can’t even access most subdomains of [internal].com without being on the intra-network, so going to wired.[internal].com right now from outside of the network would give me a 404 error (or permission denied error, not sure). So there are private “webs” or intranets, but the internet itself is more defined as the _network of networks_. Think of it less as a single thing, and more like the Interstate Highway System. Sure, there are separate highways, and there are separate roads. But what’s the point of a road if you can’t get to it? If you can’t get there, you can’t drive on it. It’s a beautiful home, almost free, stunning amenities, huge back yard… … no access? What good’s it do me? ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528/26 "2011-04-07T22:44:03Z")
What good is [SIPRNet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIPRNet)? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528/27 "2011-04-07T23:26:19Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Perhaps a dumb question, but why is there only “one” Internet? Why aren’t there two, three, or four “other” Internets, wherein [www.abc.com](http://www.abc.com) in one would be totally separate from [www.abc.com](http://www.abc.com) in another? Sort of like parallel universes that can compete with each other. Back to basics, a big reason is utility, from [Metcalfe’s Law](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalfe%27s_law) > [@](#): > > Metcalfe’s law states that the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system (n\*\*2). Multiple networks will naturally decrease the number of users on each, which decreases their value. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528/28 "2011-04-08T01:40:53Z")
I always feel a little weird when I see .co.uk or .au or some such - as if non-US websites were some how subservient. Sure, we have .gov and .us (which I rarely see) websites, but you know what I mean. Sorry, kinda OT, but I really liked the OP’s question. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528/29 "2011-04-08T02:30:07Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > What good is [SIPRNet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIPRNet)? SIPRNet, as far as I know, is totally isolated from the public Internet; they don’t ever connect the same hardware to both SIPRnet and any other network. The network links are all encrypted and physically hardened, but the network itself runs ordinary IP. That means you can run normal TCP/IP applications like email and web browsers on the network, but they don’t have access to anything on the public Internet and vice versa. That means you need a dedicated computer on your desk just for accessing SIPRnet, separate from your regular computer. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528/30 "2011-04-08T03:10:08Z")
Hi, you guys! Hey, look, no time for more than a quick note, but wanted you to know we’re fine over here, on The Other Internet. Sure, we get a little tired of the free shrimp cocktail, but as long as you use plenty of sunscreen you get used to the constant sunshine. Oh! Shoot – late for tetherball. I’ll stop back after the mandatory [TopShelfTequila.com](http://TopShelfTequila.com) party. Hang loose, gang! ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528/31 "2011-04-08T03:22:56Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > There aren’t more? Then why, in rural Missouri, do they keep referring to ‘The Internets’? No, you’re thinking of rural Texas… George W. Bush once referred to “The Internets” in a speech. Alaska has tubes. And other things with other names. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528/32 "2011-04-08T05:02:43Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > You need to explain what you mean by “two networks”. I could easily argue that we do in fact have several networks right now. One of them is the phone system. Seriously! Think of the things that the phones can do: You can share a conversation among several phone numbers. Text messages. Faxes. Lots of stuff! True and false at the same time: The Internet still runs through the phone system in that people still use dial-up and DSL and, in the wilds of Europe, ISDN, all of which rely on phone company wires and other hardware. If a phone line is carrying Internet traffic, it’s part of the Internet. However, it’s true the phone system carries a lot of non-Internet traffic. > [@](#): > > If you want two distinct "[www.abc.com](http://www.abc.com)"s, then you’re going to need some way of keeping them separate. That means two totally separate physical sets of wire. No, you just need multiple DNS roots and configuration files on each computer to tell them which DNS servers to query. However, that still means the traffic will still flow through the Internet. If you want a non-Internet internet (a collection of heterogeneous networks that is distinct from the Internet) you need to duplicate a lot more of what the Internet provides, down to having what amount to ‘non-Internet ISPs’ to allow people and companies with smaller network connections access to your little internet. > [@](#): > > Or you can have a prefix. Like how http is separate from https. Wrong entirely. HTTP and HTTPS are different applicaton protocols, which could be used on any network at all. They’re not relevant to this discussion. > [@](#): > > The most you think about it, the more you’ll see that we do in fact already have what you’re looking for. Not really. We did until the Internet at the world in the 1990s, but not nearly as much anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528/33 "2011-04-08T05:51:27Z")
I often wondered if the Communist world didn’t collapse so early if the Soviets would’ve tried to develop a separate “internet” for their own use ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528/34 "2011-04-08T06:01:30Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I often wondered if the Communist world didn’t collapse so early if the Soviets would’ve tried to develop a separate “internet” for their own use [kremvax aside](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kremvax), there was enough Internet access in the USSR by 1991 for [normal Soviet citizens to get information out about the attempted coup by CPSU hardliners in that year.](https://www.msu.edu/~corcora5/essays/RusNets+Coup.html) One important technology was IRC, [as recorded in these transcripts.](http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20090628013626/http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/communications/logs/report-ussr-gorbatchev) It was, in retrospect, a very important prefiguring of what the Internet would be used for in this decade and the prior one: Making fools of the established media by getting facts the AP and the BBC can’t or won’t. A Morningstar of the Media Reformation, if you will. [Here’s a video from Harvard about why the USSR failed to create their own equivalent to ARPANET and had to hook up to the networks descended from the ones the imperialist running-dogs built.](http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/events/2008/10/peters) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-only-one-internet/577528.md?page=1)