Internet service provider

Definition and stakes

United States. Central Intelligence Agency,  The 2007 CIA World Factbook

“ An Internet host is a computer connected directly to the Internet; normally an Internet Service Provider's (ISP) computer is a host. Internet users may use either a hard-wired terminal, at an institution with a mainframe computer connected directly to the Internet, or may connect remotely by way of a modem via telephone line, cable, or satellite to the Internet Service Provider's host computer. The number of hosts is one indicator of the extent of Internet connectivity. ”
Source: Gutenberg

Michael Hart,  Project Gutenberg Newsletters 1999

“ BRITISH TELECOM OFFERS FREE PCs British Telecom has become the first U.K. Internet service provider to offer customers a free personal computer as part of its BT Internet PC package. The package, which costs 25.99 British pounds a month, also includes installation, training, and free weekend ISP connections. At the end of three years, customers will own their Fujitsu PC. BT says its new service will cost less than 90p a day, and noted that the free weekend connections would eliminate the potential problem of children running up phone bills during peak Internet usage times. ”
Source: Gutenberg

Portrait of Barack Obama Barack Obama,  President Obama's Statement on Keeping the Internet Open and Free (2014)

“ That is why a phone call from a customer of one phone company can reliably reach a customer of a different one, and why you will not be penalized solely for calling someone who is using another provider. It is common sense that the same philosophy should guide any service that is based on the transmission of information — whether a phone call, or a packet of data. ”
Source: Wikisource

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