1.1.1 The Internet

Back in 1866, the Wild West was "the future utopia" to Americans who were already in what was originally supposed to be "the land of opportunity." Civil War, reconstruction, and corruption in the White House were the current headlines of the day. Thus, eyes turned to the West for opportunity and new beginnings. The Wild West was supposed to be a place where everyone could go for cheap land, free gold, and a good beach (and eventually surfing, if they made it to the coast). The Wild West was often not this ideal, as demonstrated by the word "Wild." Many used it and abused it for the purpose of pillaging, robbing, lawlessness, and bordellos. It is not so different with today's Internet. The Internet is supposed to be a network that links thousands, millions, or even billions of computers together in order to send and receive data in perfect tranquility. First, the Internet is not a single network and, as you may have guessed, it is not always safe. The Internet is changing by the day, by the hour, by the minute, and has changed the face of technology and business both in just under three decades. The Internet is more than 27 years old. The WWW (World Wide Web, e.g., www.lookatmywebpage.com ^[1]) is actually less than 10 years old. Before the WWW, there was WORM, the first of which burrowed through the Internet in 1988. As you can see,...