ABSTRACT
According to https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm, there are roughly 1.7 billion Internet users in the world as of 2009 out of a total world population of 6.8 billion people. This means that one of every four people on the planet is now connected in some way. For example, many in the United States who cannot afford a computer go to their local library. This number of Internet users increased from 361 million a scant 10 years ago, a 4.6-fold increase. It is dif£cult to conceive of any technological development that has increased at such a rate for the world population as a whole. Even people who expressed minimal interest in computers now order merchandise, pay bills and do other banking chores, and send e-mail instead of letters or telephone calls on a routine basis. It is probable that even the smallest business has a World Wide Web (hereafter, simply Web) site. References to the development of the Web include Gillies and Cailliau (2000) and Orkin (2005).
