3.12 Summary and SAQs

In Section 2 we looked at the social and economic significance of the internet and outlined some of the important ideas in the unit.

In this section we have looked in more detail at two key ideas:

1. the commons – a resource freely or neutrally available to a community;

2. the three-layers model of the internet.

In addition, you have learned about the importance of the commons in the evolution of the internet. Shared resources at the content and code layers, as well as neutral laws, meant that there were no gatekeepers who could control innovation. The result was explosive innovation, leading to developments such as the World Wide Web.

We briefly considered the differences between rivalrous and non-rivalrous resources, and you read a short introduction to intellectual property (copyrights, patents and trademarks).