YEAR
|
DESCRIPTION
|
Related Threads
|
| The 1970s |
Computer networks grow
rapidly not just in the US but also in UK and Europe.
Academic and corporate networks also grow.  1970s:1 |
1969: Sharing resources
1970: 1 node per month
|
|
|
|
| 1970 |
Bob
Kahn and Dave Walden test the limits of the IMPs by
inducing congestion on the network of 4 nodes, aided by
Vint Cerf, Steve Crocker and Jon Postel. Frank Heart at BBN
(an IMP contractor)
instructs Will Crowther to work with Kahn to fix the
problems. Overall the network experiment is a success.
"The unique way in which ARPA went about its
business and its relationship with its contractor worked
too." 1970:1 The movie M*A*S*H, a black comedy
about war, is released.
|
1967: The first IMP
1969: The first ARPA network
Below: Remote IMP monitoring
1969: Vietnam War
Below: Anti-war protestors
|
| March 1970 Trans-
continental link
|
UCLA is connected to
BBN Cambridge, Massachusetts, via a new 50-kilobit
line. This is the first transcontinental link which is
"also an immediate boon to network maintenance and
troubleshooting" 1970:2
The BBN team is able to do monitoring,
maintenance and fix problems remotely, with the
capability built into the IMPs' design 1970:3
|
1969: The first ARPA network
Below: Network Control Centre
|
|
The ARPANET is growing
at a rate of one new node every month. 1970:4 Next to go
online are:
- MIT
- RAND
- System Development Corp
- Harvard
AT&T installs cross-country 50-kilobit links
between BBN and RAND, and between MIT and Uni of Utah.
These are followed by more 50-kilobit links. 1970:5
|
1970s: Network growth1971: Not
enough traffic
|
| Network Control Centre |
IMPs have to report to the
Network Control Centre at BBN every minute to confirm
that they are alive. 1970:6
|
Above: Remote monitoringBelow: IMP software propagation
|
| November
1970 Network goes
operational
Network Control Centre
|
Alex McKenzie, convinced
that the network is now ready to upgrade from
experimental to operational, is appointed by Frank Heart
to take charge of the Network Control Centre; his opinion
was that the network should be run like "an electrical
utility".
The NCC is moved into a new BBN building
designed like a fortress against possible attacks by
anti-war protesters
1970:7
|
Above: M*A*S*H released
Below: NCC expands
|
|
The IMPs begin
to download new operating software via a distributive
propagation in which "every IMP downloaded the
software from a neighbour". An IMP can also restore
its own operating system this way, in case of damage. 1970:8 |
|
| TIP
(Terminal IMP) |
Larry Roberts and Frank
Heart's team discuss ways to enable terminals to connect
directly with IMPs. This would open up the community to
casual users, further realizing Licklider's vision. The
terminals would connect via dial-up lines, and the device
to host them would be called a Terminal IMP, or TIP. The
first TIP can handle up to 64 terminals. 1970:9 |
1967: The first IMP
1950s: Licklider's vision
1973:
IMP source code
|
| |
BBN
begins to explore connecting peripheral terminal
devices to the network. The Network Control Centre
expands with the network and is staffed round the clock 1970:10 |
|
| FTP and
Telnet |
BBN begins to sit in with
the NWG to work on the host-to-host protocol, FTP and
Telnet. "It was TIPs and Telnet together that paved
the way for rapid expansion of the network". FTP would be "the first application to
permit two machines to cooperate as peers instead of
treating one as a terminal to the other".
1970:11
|
1969: NWG's Telnet
1971: NCP
1972 E-mail programme released with FTP
|
|
|
|
| 1971 Micro-
processor
|
Intel introduces the
microprocessor. 1971:1
|
1965: Minicomputer
1972: Pocket calculator
1980s: RISC chip
|
| Not enough traffic! |
The ARPANET is carrying an average of
675,000 packets a day, less than 2% of its capacity of 30
million packets a day. "[A] program could be moved
around the network at such a speed as to approximate real
time" 1971:2 |
1970: 1 node per month1973: More
traffic
|
| DARPA
gives up ARPANET |
DARPA doesn't want to run
the ARPANET any more as it has completed its computer
research mission, and running the network is draining its
resources. Larry Roberts (who is in charge of the ARPANET
project) wants to sell it to a private
contractor, and asks AT&T to see if they are
interested. AT&T could have monopolized the ARPANET,
but they decide that packet-switching is incompatible
with circuit-switching. 1971:3
|
Around 1959: AT&T not interested1972:
AT&T still not impressed
1973:
DCA takes over running ARPANET
|
| NCP |
A basic protocol, the
Network Control Protocol (NCP) emerges. 1971:4 |
1974: TCP paper
|
|
|
|
| 1972 Pocket
calculator
|
The first pocket calculator is
introduced in the UK. 1972:1
|
1971: Microprocessor1975:
Portable computer
|
| Secret
files |
Public
outcry erupts over the US Army's
"information-gathering" on suspected civilian troublemakers
in the political unrest in the late '60s. The files are ordered
to be destroyed immediately. 1972:2 |
1975:
Allegations
|
| E-mail
(between 2
machines) |
Ray Tomlinson at BBN engages
the first e-mail delivery between 2 machines. His scheme consists of 2 separate programmes,
SNDMSG and READMAIL. Although technically trivial, the
experiment is a historical breakthrough. This is the guy
responsible for the @ sign.
Tomlinson's programmes are released on
the ARPANET in the same package as Abhay Bhushan's newly
finalised file-transfer protocol (FTP).
1972:3
|
1960s: E-mail (single machine)
1973: RD
|
October
1972ICCC
|
ARPA demonstrates the
network at the first International Conference on
Computer Communication in Washington (ICCC). During a
demonstration to AT&T officials, the computers crash,
and the officials dismiss packet-switching as non-viable.
Nevertheless, the conference proves that packet-switching
works at the national level. This is attested by overseas network
people such as Donald Davies from UK and Louise Pouzin (see next
paragraph) from
France, who also attended the conference. There is a consensus
that the next step will be an international network.
1972:4 |
1971: AT&T doesn't give a dinkin' datagram1993: Now
AT&T wants in
|
| French Cyclades |
Packet-switching network
projects in France and England are successful. Louis
Pouzin builds Cyclades, "a French version
of the ARPANET". |
|
| INWG CATENET
|
The leaders of several national
networking projects form the International Network
Working Group (INWG). INWG produces the CATENET
(Concatenated Network), "a transparent
interconnection of networks of disparate technologies and
speeds". 1972:5
|
1969: NWG
|
| Roberts' radio packet network |
Larry Roberts outlines a
scheme based on the ALOHANET, this time with mobile
computers. The army is intrigued, and experiments with
wireless, distributed packet networks. Years later, the
program is phased out due to technical expenses. 1972:6 |
1973:
Internetting project
|
| SATNET |
However, the wireless experiment leads
to SATNET in the 1970s, a satellite network between
America and Europe. SATNET does well, until transatlantic
phone cables are upgraded from copper to fibre-optics. 1972:7 |
1960: Satellite phone1973:
Ethernet
1985: fibre
optics
|
| ARPA
renamed DAPRA |
ARPA has been renamed DARPA
(D for Defense) to reflect its commitment to defence
research. 1972:8 |
|
|
|
|
| 1973 DCA
runs ARPANET for now
|
Sale of the ARPANET to
TELENET (a subsidiary of BBN to market a private
packet-switching service) falls through due to a conflict
of interest (Larry Roberts is leaving DARPA's Information
and Techniques Processing Office to join
TELENET and thus cannot "recommend the sale by the
government"). ARPANET is temporarily transferred to the Defense
Communications Agency (DCA). 1973:1 |
1971: DARPA doesn't want ARPANETDCA
officially takes over ARPANET
|
| IMP
source code |
BBN refuses to release the
IMP source code, effectively limiting IMP maintenance and
repair to BBN personnel only. DARPA has to threaten to
divert $6 million in contracts away from BBN. BBN relents
and distributes the source code for a small fee. This
represents one of the first cases of serious issues
related to intellectual property. 1973:2
|
1967: The first IMP
Below: Ethernet
|
|
Internetting Project |
ARPA gives birth to the
Internetting Project to link Larry Roberts' packet radio
network to the ARPANET. 1973:3
|
1972: Packet radio network
1974: TCP paper
|
| Gateways |
Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn come
up with the idea of gateway routing computers to
negotiate between the various national networks. 1973:4 This
leads to the 1974 paper, "A Protocol for Packet
Network Intercommunication"
|
1971: NCP
1974: TCP paper
|
| Net traffic |
Meanwhile, traffic on the
ARPANET has grown to "a daily average of 3.2 million
packets" 1973:5 |
1971: Not enough traffic1973-75:
ARPANET expands
|
| RD |
Larry Roberts writes the
first e-mail managing software called RD. People take to
it instantly. Soon variations of RD proliferate. 1973:6 |
1972: E-mail between 2 machines1975: MSG
|
| March 1973 ARPANET News
|
ARPANET News by SRI
(Standford Research Institute) is born — a newsletter
distributed on paper and electronic form. |
|
| USING |
A lobby group called USING, comprising
net users, draws up "plans and recommendations for
improving the delivery of computer services over the
ARPANET". Nine months later, DARPA sends out a
warning that they are overstepping boundaries, and the
group dies off eventually. 1973:7
|
|
| Ethernet Alto personal computer
|
Bob Metcalfe at Xerox PARC
develops the Ethernet. Metcalfe was
inspired while working to improve the ALOHANET. The
technology is developed for one of the first personal
computers, the Alto from Xerox PARC, without the need for
expensive IMPs. In an Ethernet, machines talk to each
other like humans: when more than one tries to talk at
the same time, someone will randomly go first, while the
rest wait for it to finish.
1973:8
|
1969: ALOHANET
1967: The first IMP
1981: IBM PC
|
|
|
|
| 1973-75 |
The ARPANET expands at a
rate of one new node every month. Network access becomes
more open. 1973:9 Contracting
for computer services on the ARPANET has become
cost-saving due to economy of scale. Large databases are
becoming popular. 1973:10
|
1973: Net trafficEarly '80s:
Hundreds of networks
|
|
|
|
| 1974 TCP
paper
|
Bob Kahn and Vint
Cerf write a paper called "A Protocol for Packet
Network Intercommunication" describing
transmission-control protocol (TCP), essentially a method
incorporating a digital envelope (a datagram) to send
messages.
Whereas NCP (network control protocol) was designed for
the ARPANET, TCP is a "more independent protocol" needed for
linking ARPANET, SATNET and Larry Roberts' packet radio
network. The paper also introduces the notion of
gateways, which would read only the envelope so that only
the receiving hosts would read the contents.
TCP also makes network transmission more reliable because
the sending host has to receive acknowledgment from the
receiving host to verify the transmission. 1974:1 |
1971: NCP
1973: Internetting project
1973: Gateways
1977: TCP works
|
| |
At around this time, the NSF
raises the issue of building an academic network. 1974:2 |
1979:
CSNET proposal
|
|
|
|
| 1975 Portable
computer
|
US Altair produces the
first portable computer. 1975:1
|
1972: Pocket calculator1979: Videotext
|
| DCA takes over ARPANET |
The DCA (Defense
Communications Agency) takes over the running of ARPANET.
The is because federal law requires that ARPANET cannot
be sold to an external party before checking to see if
the Defense Department wants it. The guys at BBN complain
of the increased red tape. 1975:2
|
1973: DCA runs ARPANET1989: ARPANET
retires
|
| TCP
specifications |
Yogen Dalal at Stanford
takes Kahn and Cerf's 1974 paper and comes up with
implementable specifications for TCP. 1975:3 |
1974: TCP paper |
| Secret
files |
Allegations
surface that the files that were supposed to have been
destroyed by the US Army in 1973 had instead been
archived on the ARPANET. The story is reported in "the
most draconian, cloak-and-dagger terms". The public is
outraged that something like ARPANET existed. DARPA is
called to account. Old print-outs
reveal that the Army was responsible, but now DARPA is
perceived to be in bed with the Army's secret operations.
1975:4 |
1972: Files ordered to be destroyed |
| MSG |
John Vittal writes the MSG mailing
programme which has an ANSWER command, making it easy to
reply to e-mails. People won't have to retype or mistype
e-mail addresses. MSG is the original 'killer
application' that made e-mail popular, and is still in
use in the 1990s. "More than just a
great hack, MSG was the best proof to date that on the
ARPANET rules might get made, but they certainly didn't
prevail. Proclamations of officialness didn't further the
Net nearly so much as throwing technology out on the Net
to see what worked. And when something worked, it was
adopted."
1975:5
|
1973: RD1977:
Header wars
1982: SMTP
|
|
|
|
| 1976 Public-key
encryption
|
Whitfield Diffie and
Martin Hellman at Stanford University invent
public-key encryption, realising that it will empower the
masses. They publish the paper "New Directions in
Cryptography". Diffie and Hellman's
scheme does not require the key to first pass through a
secure channel. Each party has a secret key. They
exchange mathematical information about each other's key
to create a session key which can be used to encrypt
future messages. The scheme requires real-time
communications and thus cannot be used for e-mail.
1976:1
|
1957: 4th Amendment1977: DES
approved
1977: RSA
|
|
|
|
| 1977 Quasar
robot
|
A private American company, Quasar
Industries, launches a robot selling for $4000 which is
claimed to be able to do anything a domestic maid could
do, and more, including "teach the kids
French". Artificial intelligence researchers
recognize the robot as a fraud and speak out openly on the
ARPANET. The robot is in fact remote-controlled during
public demonstrations. Some users realize that the
ARPANET is now being used for personal communication that
contain potentially libellous speech. They begin to
practise and encourage self-censorship, or using
disclaimers, for fear of attracting government
supervision of ARPANET.
|
|
| |
"What
emerged from the debate was strong evidence that the
networking community felt a deep stake in the creation of
the Net, ARPA funding or no ARPA funding, and was trying
jealously to guard its right to determine its future. In
a realm where, in a sense, personal identity is defined
entirely by the words people choose, free speech seemed
second only to concern for the survival of the realm
itself." 1977:1
|
|
| NSA
approves DES |
NSA approves and publishes a
weakened version of DES (Data Encryption Standard), a
secret key encryption scheme requiring the key to first
pass through a secure channel. The DES is not allowed to
be exported outside the US. 1977:2
|
1952: Truman forms NSA; NSA's 701
1976: Public-key encryption
1991:
NSA interests in encryption
|
| RSA encryption |
Meanwhile, three young professors at MIT
receive the Diffie-Hellman paper, and implement a
workable public-key encryption system. The system is
called RSA, named after Ronald Rivest, Adi Shamir and Len
Adelman. Scientific American offers a reward of $100
for anyone who could decrypt a sentence code in the form
of a 129-digit number encrypted with RSA. It won't be until 17
years later in 1994 that the code is cracked.
1977:3
|
1976: Diffie & Hellman
1991: Zimmerman's PGP
1994: Code broken
|
| MODEM |
Ward Christensen writes the programme
"MODEM" and releases it into the public domain.
MODEM allows two microcomputers to exchange files with
each other over a phone line, using modems with acoustic
couplers. 1977:4 |
1978: CBBS & CommuniTree
1979: XMODEM
|
| May 1977 Header wars
|
Mail headers
are getting out of hand. Some headers were as long as 35
lines. Ken Pogran, John Vittal, Dave Crocker and Austin Anderson
announce RFC 724 (RFC = Request For Comment), a proclamation of
a new e-mail standard.
It is titled "A Proposed Official
Standard for the Format of ARPA Network
Messages". The standard contains specifications
pertaining to syntax, semantics and "lexical formalities".
Responses to RFC 724 are not enthusiastic. Jon Postel criticizes
the standard for its claim to being "official". Alex McKenzie at
BBN says that the ARPANET does not work on official standards, but
perfects itself by trial and cooperation in an process of
"step-by-step evolution". RFCs should thus play only the
role of documenting such steps.
1977:5
|
1969: the first RFCNov 1977: RFC 724
1983: DNS
proposal
1988: OSI protocol
|
| July 1977 TCP works
|
Cerf,
Kahn and others link up 3 networks using TCP: packet
radio, ARPANET and SATNET. Messages travel 94,000 miles
from San Francisco to London to California "without
dropping a single bit". 1977:6 |
1974: the TCP paper1978: Internet
Protocol
|
| November 1977 |
RFC 724 is re-written and published as
RFC 733, now intended "strictly as a
definition". Mail programs start to conform to the
new guidelines, but within a year, conflicts pick up
again. The problem is that the standard is incompatible
with John Vittal's popular MSG mailing program. 1977:7 |
1975: MSG
Above: Header wars
|
|
|
|
| 1978 Magnetic
tape
|
The first magnetic tape is
introduced by US Oyz. 1978:1
|
|
| TCP/IP |
Inspired by Xerox PARC's
PARC Universal Packet (PUP), Cerf, Postel and Danny Cohen
come up with Internet Protocol (IP) by isolating the part
of TCP which deals with routing packets. IP will be in
charge of routing the packets, while TCP will take care
of the packeting, error control, re-transmission and
reassembly. TCP/IP enables fast and inexpensive gateways
to be built. 1978:2 |
1977: TCP works1983: The
switch to TCP/IP
|
| CBBS CommuniTree
|
Ward Christensen and Randy Suess create
the first BBS, Computer Bulletin Board System (CBBS) in
Chicago, and tell people how to start their own BBSes. 1978:3
In Santa Cruz, California, the CommuniTree BBS goes
online with a vision to build a spiritual community.
Eventually, the BBS gets choked to death by antisocial
teenaged students, causing A.R. Stone to conclude:
"Thus, in practice, surveillance and control proved
necessary adjuncts to maintaining order in the virtual
community." 1978:4
A BBS distributes messages over phone
lines between users on personal computers equipped with
modems. The communication is independent of the Internet.
BBS software is inexpensive, and anyone with a personal
computer, a modem and a phone line can start one.
|
1973: Xerox's Alto, the 1st personal computer
1977: MODEM
1983: Fido BBS
|
|
|
|
| 1979 Videotext
|
British
Telecom launches the first videotext information
system. 1979:1 |
1975: Portable computer |
| CSNET
proposal |
NSF receives a proposal to
build the CSNET (Computer Science Research Network) is
submitted by a group of universities, initiated by Larry
Landweber at the University of Wisconsin. CSNET will be independent of the ARPANET (due to
defence security restrictions), and will be cheaper to
build, using slower links and no redundancy. ARPANET has
been expensive to subscribe, and computer science
research is falling behind due to lack of computer networking.
Universities need a network to stay competitive and to
train the next generation of computer scientists.
NSF rejects the proposal but remains enthusiastic.
1979:2
|
1974: NSF network idea1980:
3-tier CSNET
|
| XMODEM |
Keith Peterson and Ward Christensen
release XMODEM, a new file transfer protocol with
error-correction, based on MODEM. 1979:3
|
1977: MODEM |
|
|
|
| The 1980s RISC chip
|
Intel
develops the RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer)
chip. 1980s:1 |
1971: Microprocessor1981: IBM PC
|
| Early
1980s |
Non-military networks join the Internet.
1980s:2 A couple
hundred networks are wired up. 1980s:3
|
1973-75: ARPANET expands1986: Global
Internet
|
|
|
|
| 1980 CSNET
|
Landweber's
committee comes up with a new proposal for CSNET,
with a 3-tier structure (ARPANET, TELENET and an
e-mail only network called PHONENET) to provide cheap
access for everyone. The tiers are connected by gateways.
The National Science Board (NSF's umbrella body) agrees
to provide $5 million for CSNET. 1980:1
|
1973: TELENET
1979: CSnet proposal
1983:
CSnet blossoms
|
| USENET |
USENET
is started by graduate students as a link between
University of North Carolina and Duke University. It
eventually blossoms into a distributed news network using
UUCP. 1980:2
|
1986: other
networks
|
|
|
|
| 1981 IBM-PC
|
IBM
introduces the desktop microcomputer, the IBM-PC 1981:1 |
1971: Microprocessor1984: Apple
Mac; CD-ROM
|
| Berkeley
UNIX |
Bill
Joy at Berkeley writes a version of UNIX with TCP/IP.
1981:2 |
1982:
Sun distributes UNIX
|
|
|
|
| 1982 Sun
distributes TCP/IP
|
Bill Joy from Berkeley joins
the new Sun (Stanford University Network) Microsystems as
a UNIX expert. The first Sun workstations come with Joy's
UNIX with TCP/IP for free. This would be an important
factor in the entrenchment of TCP/IP. 1982:1 |
1981: Berkeley UNIX1988:
OSI protocol
|
| SMTP |
So far, e-mail has been
riding on FTP. Jon Postel decides to build a separate
mechanism for mail transfer, calling it SMTP (Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol). It has new features and will be
implemented together with the impending switch to
TCP/IP. 1982:2 |
1975: MSG1983:
Switch to TCP/IP
|
|
|
|
| 1983 Switch
to TCP/IP
|
On January 1st, ARPANET
makes its official transition to TCP/IP. The network can
now branch anywhere, and network data transfer is a piece
of cake. For security reasons, the Defense
Communications Agency splits the ARPANET into
- MILNET for sites carrying military information
- ARPANET for the research community
The two networks are connected by a gateway, so users
can't tell the difference.
1983:1
|
1978: TCP/IP
1982: SMTP
1989:
ARPANET retires
|
| Esprit |
Esprit (European Strategic
Programme for Research and Information Technology) is
established by the EEC to coordinate the European
Information Technology industry. 1983:2
|
|
| DNS proposal |
Jon Postel, Paul Mockapetris
(ISI) and Craig Partridge (BBN) publish two RFCs
describing the Domain Name System (DNS) using
tree-branching structure and specific-to-general
addressing. "Eventually, a committee agreed on seven
'top-level' domains: edu, com, gov, mil, net, org and
int." They stand for:
- edu = university
- com = company
- gov= government
- mil = military
- org = non-profit organization
- net = network service provider
- int = international treaty entity
1983:3
|
1977: Standardising e-mail headers1986:
DNS summit
|
| |
More
than 70 CSNET sites are online. 1983:4 |
1980: 3-tier structure1986: CSNET success
|
| Fido BBS |
Standard modem speed is 300 bps, slower
than the average human reading speed, and modems are still
quite expensive — around US$500. The BBS is still an
exclusive technical hobby. Tom Jennings, a visitor of
CBBS, creates Fido BBS. Flames are common, but Jennings
leaves it to users to deal with them. His philosophy:
"Thou shalt not offend; thou shalt not be easily
offended." Fido has been described as having a "street" atmosphere,
and will later expand into Fidonet.
1983:5
|
1978: CBBS & CommuniTree1984: Fidos
proliferate
|
|
|
|
| 1984 Apple
Macintosh; CD-ROM; cyberspace
|
Apple introduces the
Macintosh with mouse and window interface. The CD-ROM is
introduced as data-storage device. 1984:1
William Gibson publishes Neuromancer, in
which he coins the word cyberspace.
|
1981: IBM PC |
| Fidos proliferate |
Tom Jennings helps one of his users create a
version of his Fido BBS software for another computer
platform. The system files can now be downloaded by
users, and as a result, Fido BBSes proliferate. 1984:2 |
1983: the 1st Fido1985: Fidonet
|
|
|
|
| 1985 Transputer;
fibre optics
|
Inmos
(UK) manufactures the transputer, a microprocessor with
integral memory designed for parallel processing. In
the US, fibre optics are first used to link mainframe
computers.
1985:1
|
1972: fibre optic links1986:
Superconductors
|
| Fidonet Echomail
|
With the availabilty of affordable 1200
bps modems, it is no longer prohibitively expensive to
echo e-mails over long-distances late at night when phone
rates are lowest. Tom Jennings assigns each Fido BBS with
a unique node number, and Fido BBSes across America begin
to observe the "National Fido Hour" from 1
to 2 am nightly when the BBSes call each other up to
echo e-mails. At around this time, the introduction of
Echomail in Fidonet makes it possible for conferences
between many users, instead of simply one to one.
Fidonet continues to grow.
1985:2
|
1984: Fidos proliferate1986:
Fidonet rides on Internet
|
| NSF
backbone |
5 supercomputer centres are
scattered throughout the US, and the NSF agrees to build
a backbone to link them together. NSF offers free access
to the backbone network (called NSFNET) if geographical
regions build for themselves community networks. As a result,
community networks begin to sprout, including:
- NYSERNET: New York State Educational Research
Network
- CERFnet: California Educational Research Network
(in honour of Vint Cerf)
1985:3
Networks can now choose between connecting with ARPANET or
NSFNET. NSFNET soon becomes more popular as it is faster and
easier to connect with. 1985:4
|
1986: CSNET success
1989: ARPANET
retires
|
|
|
|
| 1986 Networks
ahoy = Internet!
|
Nearly
all computer science departments and many private
computer research sites in the US are connected to CSNET. The CSNET
success parallels other networks:
- BITNET (Because It's Time Network), an IBM
network open to all
- UUCP at Bell Labs for file transfer and remote
execution
- USENET
- NASA's SPAN (Space Physics Analysis Network).
All these networks communicate with TCP/IP and as a
result come to be collectively called the Internet.
1986:1
(Presumabely, all these networks have gateways to the
NSF backbone.)
|
1983: CSNET grows
1980: USENET
1985: NSF backbone
|
| Global Internet |
Other countries have their
own networks too:
- Several academic service networks in Europe
- CDNet in Canada
- The JANET (Joint Academic Network) in the UK 1986:2
Eventually these networks build gateways to the US
Internet, and the Internet comes to mean the
international network. National boundaries begin to
dissolve. 1986:3
|
1980s: Hundreds of networksEarly
'90s: Network numbers
|
| NSF
takes over Internet |
The NSF (National Science
Foundation) takes over Internet responsibility from
DARPA. 1986:4 |
1989: ARPANET
retires
|
Super-
conductors |
IBM labs in Zurich discover
high-temperature superconductors with potential for
superconducting computers in the future. 1986:5 |
1985: Transputer |
| DNS
summit |
Representatives from major
networks meet on the West Coast for a grand summit
meeting, and agree to use DNS. 1986:6
|
1983: DNS proposal |
| Interop |
Dan Lynch starts the
Interop trade show to promote TCP/IP. It is attended
by hardcore networking people for the first couple of
years. 1986:6 |
1989: Internet attracts business
|
| Fidonet
piggybacks on Internet |
At around this time, Tim Pozar at SRI
(Stanford Research Institute) begins working on a scheme
to distribute Fidonet e-mail globally over the Internet.
In other words, the Internet acts as a link between
Fidonet nodes in different parts of the world. Ken
Harrington at SRI provides administrative and finanial
support. 1986:7 |
1985: Fidonet |
|
|
|
| 1988 OSI
protocol
|
The
ISO (International Organization for Standardization)
produces the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) protocol.
US and European government adopt it as the official
standard, but it never catches on because TCP/IP was
there first and, more importantly, has proven itself. 1988:1 TCP/IP
is also very open: it can support all sorts of networks.
Another reason for TCP/IP's success is the support by
UNIX. 1988:2
|
1977: RFC 724
1978: TCP/IP
1982: Sun's Berkeley UNIX
|
|
|
|
| 1989 Internet
draws business
|
Dan Lynch's Interop
trade show attracts business people including
"Novell, Synoptics, and Network General". The
Internet is starting to appeal to the business world.
Its success
provided an object lesson in technology and how it
advances. "Standards should be discovered, not
decreed," said one computer scientist in the TCP/IP
faction.
1989:1
|
1986: The 1st Interop
1977: RFC 724
|
| ARPANET
retires |
Mark Pullen, a program
manager at DARPA, retires the ARPANET, since the much
faster NSFNET has taken over as the major backbone.
ARPANET is 20 years old. 1989:2
|
1983: ARPANET and MILNET
1985: NSF backbone
|
|
|
|
| Early 1990s |
Wired networks
number over 7,500 worldwide, reaching people in more than
75 countries. 1990s:1 |
1986: Global Internet1990: Internet
users
1991:
E-commerce
|
|
|
|
| 1990 |
Internet users are
estimated to number 5 to 10 million. 1990:1 |
1990s: No. of networks1995: No.
of users
|
|
|
|
| 1991 E-commerce
|
The
National Science Foundation (NSF) lifts restrictions
against commercial use of the Internet. Electronic
commerce on the Net is now possible. Some of the early
founders of the Net bemoan this, while others welcome it.
1991:1 |
1990s: Wired figures1993: NSF
contracts out Net admin functions
|
| PGP 1.0 |
Phil Zimmerman releases the
PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) encrypting programme,
essentially an amalgamation of the Diffie-Hellman
algorithm, RSA and standard secret key encryption. The
program finds it way to Usenet. PGP
incorporates a digital signature and can be used with
e-mail. PGP-encoded messages are virtually uncrackable by
today's computers. PGP has become the de facto
standard for e-mail encryption.
1991:2
Unable to get a licence for the RSA
algorithm, and with an impending ban on strong
cryptography, Zimmerman releases PGP 1.0, knowing that it
is illegal.
1991:3
|
1976: Diffie and Hellman
1977: RSA
Below: PGP 2.0
1993: The charge - munitions exports
|
| |
RSA threatens to sue unless
Zimmerman stops distributing PGP. Although he complies,
the programme and its source code are already circulating
on the Net. 1991:3 |
|
| |
PGP attracts attention
from the National Security Agency (NSA) — part of the US
Defence Department in charge of encryption. NSA believes
that encryption should only be used by the government to
fight crime and win wars. 1991:4
|
1977: NSA's DES1991:
FBI's Digital Telephony
|
| PGP 2.0 |
The combined effort of
supporters from the Netherlands, New Zealand, France and
Spain results in PGP 2.0. NSA gets really pissed off by
the fact that the technology is in foreign hands. 1991:5 |
Above: PGP 1.0 |
| Apple Powerbook |
Apple releases the Powerbook
laptop microcomputer, able to function as a desktop. 1991:6 |
|
|
|
|
| 1992 Digital
Telephony Bill
|
The FBI drafts the
Digital Telephony bill to counter the loss of
eavesdropping capability as new technology arrives. Essentially, they want wire-tapping capability
to be built into communications infrastructure. Without
support in Congress and with strong civil opposition, the
bill dies.
1992:1
|
1991: NSA on PGP1994:
Digital Telephony Law
|
|
|
|
| 1993 |
The NSF
announces that it will assign 3 major administrative
functions to private corporations. They are:
- Internet address registration ("thus acting
as a gateway or potential chokepoint for
determining exactly which sites are granted
permission to join the high-speed network"),
assigned to Network Solutions.
- Directory and database services ("keeping
track of how to locate people and
resources"), assigned to AT&T.
- Informational services provided to Net users
("modernization of tools for making use of
the Internet"), assigned to General Atomics.
1993:1
|
1991: NSF deregulates e-commerce
1972: AT&T laughs at packet-switching
|
| Fall 1993 Zimmerman's legal woes
|
The US
government represented by assistant attorney William
Keane tries to decide whether Zimmerman should be charged
with exporting munitions without a licence. 1993:2 |
1991: PGP1996: Charges dropped
|
|
|
|
| 1994 Digital
Telephony Law
|
Digital Telephony
is legislated. It requires phone companies to re-wire
their networks so that the FBI can tap in. Civil rights
supporters like Senator Leahy and the Electronic Freedom
Foundation work to delete on-line information services
from the legislation. Court orders are also required. The civil rights supporters include AT&T,
DEC, Lotus, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems.
1994:1
|
1991: Digital Telephony billBelow: Clipper
chip
|
| Clipper chip |
Meanwhile, the Clinton
Administration’s proposed Clipper chip faces
widespread opposition from academics and civil rights
groups and dies eventually of technical flaws. The Clipper chip is developed by the NSA and is
an encryption scheme in which the government would hold a
key in escrow to all encrypted data.
1994:1
|
1991: Digital Telephony bill |
| DES in
foriegn hands |
A study by the Software
Publisher’s Association reveals that although the US
closely guards DES, there are 152 DES-based products
being developed and distributed by 33 foreign countries,
and the foreign versions are in fact superior to the
American version. 1994:2
|
1977: DES
1991: NSA fumes over PGP
|
|
Code broken |
Back in 1976, Scientific American
offered a reward to decrypt an RSA code. An international
team from 24 countries finally takes 8 months and 1600
workstations to crack the code. 1994:3
|
1977: the RSA challenge |
|
|
|
| 1995 |
There
are 30 to 40 million Internet users in the world
(estimated). 1995:1 |
1990: No. of users |
|
|
|
| 1996 January
1996
|
The US government gives
up prosecuting Zimmerman for releasing PGP.
Investigations are officially closed. No reasons are
given, but it could be due to the legal difficulties of
charging Zimmerman (raising First Amendment issues) and
his strong team of legal defence. 1996:1
|
1993: The chargeFor the
latest development on cryptography issues: http://www.cdt.org
|
|
|
|