Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

250 Internet censorshipDunaev, Sergei. Advanced Internet Programming: Technologies &Applications. Hingham, Mass.: Charles River Media, 2001.HTML/Web Programming Resources. Available online. URL: http://www.sandhills.cc.nc.us/html.html. Accessed August 8, 2007.Moore, Dana, Raymond Budd, and Edward Benson. ProfessionalRich Internet Applications: AJAX and Beyond. Indianapolis:Wrox, 2007.Web Programming Resources. Available online. URL: http://www.webreference.com/programming/. Accessed August 8, 2007.Internet censorship See censorship and theInternet.Internet cafés and “hot spots”Internet cafés (also called cyber cafés) are public placeswhere computers are connected to the Internet and availablefor use for a fee by the hour or minute. Many Internetcafés also sell coffee and food. Combining the social ambienceof a traditional coffee shop and the attraction of theInternet, many Internet cafés acquire a regular clientelefrom students to adults.These venues appeared first in the mid-1990s and spreadrapidly as their popularity grew. While the most commonactivities at most Internet cafés are to check e-mail, sendtext messages, or browse the Web, some locations specializein gaming (see online games), providing more powerfulmachines running games over a local network. Suchgaming centers have been particularly popular in Asia.Internet cafés have grown most rapidly in countries thatare becoming more urban and industrial but where manypeople cannot yet afford their own computers. The moststriking example is China, which had 113,000 Internet cafésin as of 2007. In keeping with its strict policies, however,the Chinese government closely monitors activity at Internetcafés (see censorship and the Internet).Hot SpotsThe number of dedicated Internet cafés in the UnitedStates and many other highly developed countries has beendeclining in recent years. This is largely due to the growingnumber of people who connect to the Internet through theirown laptops and other mobile devices (see pda and smartphone).Thus many locations, including coffee chains suchas Starbucks, do not provide machines, but simply offerwireless Internet access (see Wireless and mobile computing).Areas where one can make such a wireless connectionare called “hot spots.” Today virtually all majorhotels and airports provide hot spots; there is normally afee for access as with Internet cafés. (The fee is collected byrouting all access through a portal.) However, a number ofvenues offer free Wifi access.Users of Internet cafés or hot spots should be awarethat they are sharing an ad hoc network with strangers andmay be exposed to malicious software. Passwords or othersensitive data may be “sniffed” using special software. Itis therefore generally a good idea not to conduct financialtransactions or otherwise send sensitive information whenconnected to such venues, unless one has provided forencryption or can access a virtual private network. Additionally,users connecting their own machines to a hot spotshould have up-to-date firewall and antivirus software.Further ReadingBradley, Tony, and Becky Waring. “Complete Guide to Wi-Fi Security.”Available online. URL: http://www.jiwire.com/wi-fisecurity-traveler-hotspot-1.htm.Accessed September 9, 2007.Café Touch. Available online. URL: http://www.cafetouch.com/.Accessed September 9, 2007.Cyber cafés [directory]. Available online. URL: http://www.cybercafes.com/. Accessed September 9, 2007.Internet Café Guide. Available online. URL: http://www.internet-cafe-guide.com/. Accessed September 9, 2007.Wi-Fi Hotspot Finder. Available online. URL: http://www.jiwire.com/search-hotspot-locations.htm. Accessed September 9,2007.Internet cafes are particularly common in countries such as China,where Internet access is still relatively rare in homes. In many casessuch facilities have given way to simple “hot spots,” where userscan wirelessly connect their own laptops or PDAs. (Qin Ying/Panorama/The Image Works)Internet organization and governanceThe Internet is remarkable as a modern institution in that,while the technology was developed with considerable governmentfunding, the Net as we know it today is remarkablyfree of externally imposed authority or regulation. This isin sharp contrast with earlier communications technologiessuch as the telegraph and telephone, which were generallytightly regulated or even run by a government departmentsuch as the Post Office. In part this was due to the complexityof the technology and the fact that many political leadershad little familiarity with it and its implications. (Also, thespeed of growth has been overwhelming in recent years,considering that the World Wide Web in its modern formwas scarcely a decade and a half old as of 2008.)Institutions of Self-GovernanceWhile the Internet is not rigidly controlled, the need forinteroperability and orderly advances in technology hasled to the emergence of several organizations that provide