Internet service provider

An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, the Internet. Internet service providers may be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privately owned.

Internet services typically provided by ISPs include Internet access, Internet transit, domain name registration, web hosting, Usenet service, and colocation.

History

The Internet was developed as a network between government research laboratories and participating departments of universities. By the late 1980s, a process was set in place towards public, commercial use of the Internet. The remaining restrictions were removed by 1995, 4 years after the introduction of the World Wide Web.

In 1989, the first ISPs were established in Australia and the United States. In Brookline, Massachusetts, The World became the first commercial ISP in the US. Its first customer was served in November 1989.