OPPapers.com

Save Our Internet

Save our

Internet

Graham stokes
English 102
12/9/05


In the early 1970's a man by the name of Vinton Cerf invented a concept of linking computers together and creating a network of information and data. It would be one of the most influential and important breakthroughs of modern times. The Internet, or ARPA as it was known in the early stages (http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/story070.htm) was a simple and difficult to use prototype. It relied heavily on computer code and required detailed knowledge of how the system worked for a person to be able to operate it efficiently. This basic system was built and paid for by Americas department of defense, and ironically the early Internet had just about no built in security. Because it was developed by a very select group of people, there was no immediate need for security measures. This miscalculation in the delicate early stages of its infancy would prove to be the Internets Achilles heal, after its explosion into the worlds leading communication and marketing tool of today's fast paced world.

This early technology was greatly overshadowed by a similarly used and important medium, the Multi-band radio. This was the end all be all of its time because of its importance in saving the lives of soldiers on the ground and in the air in World War II. Advancements in radio wave technology had to be developed to ensure the safety of the missions that were broadcast over these waves. Because of the ever-increasing issues of possible enemy spying and decoding of secret information, the United States military developed the Midas (Military Digital Analysis System),
(http://www.crc.ca/en/html/crc/home/mediadesk/success_stories/success_stories_2002/spectrum_explorer) in a joint effort with Canada to secure the soldiers communications. It was a sophisticated radio-frequency surveillance system that used a combination of commercial off-the-shelf receivers, and crude computer technology. It would take the...