(the Internet) the worldwide computer network that can link all smaller networks via telephone lines and satellite links, allowing individual users to communicate with each other via email and to gain access to information sites on the World Wide Web and to other electronic archives
Created by the US government as a decentralized and resilient communications network that could not be destroyed by nuclear attack, the Internet at first connected only government defence laboratories, but was eventually opened to the public and now permits email to be sent to and from anywhere in the world and supports interactive services such as the World Wide Web — Dick Pountain