A European history of the Internet

This article focuses upon the European perspective of the Internet's development. In the first section, a brief description of the characteristics and early impact of the Internet in the global context will be outlined, which will describe the somewhat reluctant approach that the European Community (subsequently the EU), took towards the development of the protocols that underlie the Internet. This reluctance to support the Internet is then contrasted with the EU's current support for the Internet and its participation in the development of the next generation of Internet protocols. The concluding section introduces the relationship between the Internet and EU governance and reveals the role that the EU now plays in the Internet's development.