ColdFusion - The Untold Mechanisms Behind how the Internet Works

Starting point is 00:00:01 Hi, welcome to another Cold Fusion video. There's no question that the internet has revolutionized humanity. It is perhaps the greatest tool we have ever built for better or for worse. But how does it work? Who owns it? Where is the internet? And who makes sure it keeps on running? Today, let's explore the internet. It's pioneers, the organisations that keep it running, its present and its future. The revolution begins in 1969. During this time, the US Defense Department had a branch called the Advanced Research Projects Agency, or ARPA.

Starting point is 00:00:42 ARPA-funded researchers developed many of the technologies used for internet communication today. At first, they connected computers across a few universities and called it ARPANET, and over the next few years, ARPANET grew, connecting more and more computers and eventually inspiring the modern internet. 20 years later, English computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee was working at CERN in Geneva. He was hired to fix the mess that grew out of the incompatibility of different networks in CERN's system. His solution was the World Wide Web. Although the Internet and the Web are often used as synonyms, they are not the same thing. The Internet is the infrastructure of the network, while the web sits on top of this and is essentially a way to access information via the Internet.

Starting point is 00:01:26 Tim Berners-Lee invented the core on which most websites work. He allowed the internet to become uniform and usable. Yet, he never patented his idea. One can only imagine the riches he gave up in order to allow for his invention to flourish. The modern internet is now a huge array of interconnected points across the globe. So the question must be asked, how exactly does the internet connect us altogether? Well, cables span across entire oceans to connect countries. This isn't a new idea, as we've been laying cables since 1854 when construction began on the first transatlantic telegram cable.

Starting point is 00:02:04 The process is a surprisingly simple engineering feat for an incredible complex technology. Each cable consists of nothing more than some optical fibers wrapped in materials for protection. Globally, approximately 420 cables have been laid spanning over 1.1 million kilometres as of 2017. So here's how it works. As ship pulls a cable from one country to another, and then on the sea floor cable is laid by sea plows that dig a little trench for the cables to fall into. Eventually natural ocean currents bury the cable. If the ground is uneven however, the cable is unburied and vulnerable to damage from ship anchors and other natural disasters.

Starting point is 00:02:44 In 2008 one such disruption happened due to cable damage, about 60% of India and 70% of Egypt's internet services were briefly cut. With this being said, damaged cables are not on Repairs are constantly carried out and severed cables around the world. But really, it is interesting to think of how physically vulnerable the internet is. Of course, there are so many other routes for traffic to take, that it's almost nearly impossible to kill the internet by just cutting off one cable, especially in more recent times, since satellites now circle the Earth beaming down the internet from the skies. After their path across the sea, there are systems of cables spanning across your country leading right up to your door.

Starting point is 00:03:24 That is, if you're lucky and live in a place wealthy enough and populated enough to allow for a cable connection to the internet. As a whole, the internet is still growing, and about half of everyone that lives on Earth has access to it. So, we still have yet to see what the internet evolves into by the time mass adoption reaches saturation. So who owns the internet? Well, technically, no one and everyone. The internet itself is an autonomous interconnection of various voluntary networks. It's decentralized, so no one government, or body owns or controls the internet. However, governments have the ability to control their

Starting point is 00:04:01 citizens access to the internet via laws that impact the internet service providers or ISPs of that nation. For example, China restricts its citizens from accessing YouTube. In 2016, the US government officially handed over the ownership of the database which holds the domain names of the internet to a body called ICANN or the internet corporation for assigned names and numbers. These guys have been overseeing this database for the last 20 years. This meant that we reached a point where the ownership was given back to the people. ICANN is an independent body which is comprised of a multi-stakeholder community. This means that ICAN tries to consult the internet community about changes

Starting point is 00:04:41 and at least tries to be as open and as transparent as possible. So it's unlikely that you've ever heard of ICANN, but the non-profit organisation performs one of the most important rituals to keep the internet safe. They manage the domain name system or DNS. I can the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which basically assigns web addresses. The California-based organisation is technically a not-for-profit, but it has one of the biggest jobs in governing the internet

Starting point is 00:05:09 to manage the domain name system or DNS. This means that when you type in www.g Google.com, the response you receive is from Google and not a fake version of Google created by a 9-Druin prints or other scammer. Every three months, a group of trusted community members, gather to perform a ritual, which will renew and ensure the DNS system for the next three months. The ceremony is recorded with tight security such as guards, safes, cages and alarms. In fact, the alarms are so sensitive that at one ceremony, a slamming door set off the seismic

Starting point is 00:05:41 sensor locking people into one of the cages, and evacuation had to be triggered to release them. The master key is stored on a cryptographic device. This device, if dropped or tampered with, will erase all of its contents. fragments of keys are distributed among the trusted members, ensuring that no one person can create the master key. This requires the presence of at least five of these people to come together to do so. At the heart of this new system lies one master key. That key is controlled by seven smart cards locked in one of two high security deposit boxes, one on the east coast, one on the west.

Starting point is 00:06:16 The keys to those boxes are scattered around the world in the hands of two groups of seven online security experts. This is just one organisation that helps make sure the internet run smoothly, but they're not the only ones. There's a host of others such as the Internet Engineering Task Force and the World Wide Web Consortium run by none other than Temburnus Lee. These organisations set the standards, make the protocols and ensure that the internet is safe and open. It's undeniable that the internet has changed our lives forever. It has taken over so many facets of our lives. It's allowed people to carry around every encyclopedia in the world just in the palm of their hand. I wonder how many people have used Google to solve arguments.

Starting point is 00:06:58 But with massive information also come as massive misinformation. It is much easier now for people to use confirmation bias to validate their own point of view, leading to the infamous echo chamber effect. The use of social media has also drastically changed our lives. It's been said to be tearing apart the actual foundational fabric of how our society functions. I've discussed this all much further in my video, The Death of Facebook, and I'll leave a link for that below and at the end of this video. So of course the internet has some negative aspects, almost any technology does, and this is because human nature is to blame for the way we use the tools we make, not the tools themselves.

Starting point is 00:07:34 With that being said, the internet also has many positives. The internet has given creators, artists, journalists and many others a platform that would otherwise just not exist. Your favourite YouTubers wouldn't be able to make their videos without the internet. Michael from Vsource has an old and still running segment called Do Online Now Guys or Dongs. This series was simply lists of amazing things that you can do on the internet. It's one of the older series that's around, but the great thing about it is that it still captures the original wonder of the internet. Interesting topics organically trend, and more people view things that are generally interesting.

Starting point is 00:08:09 This is very unlikely to happen in the old world, where you would stumble across an interesting topic in a rigid magazine or newspaper, and it would just be for you. You couldn't share it instantly and discuss it and develop a rapid wider community around it. A rate of spread a magnitude of reach of information that was only once possible. if you owned a whole media outlet for a country, is now to some extent possible by anyone with an internet connection and a potent message. You can look at the French yellow vest protest that had gained momentum after an online petition, the WikiLeaks revelations that had gripped the attention of much of the world. So it comes down to this. The internet is an immensely

Starting point is 00:08:44 powerful tool, but we have to use it right. So how will the internet evolve? Well, for starters, it's going to get faster. 5G is set to yield at least a tenfold increase in speed. There are some scientists and political figures who are questioning the safety of 5G. These concerns arise from the high frequencies associated with the higher data transfer speeds. However, the frequencies produced by 5G are an order of magnitude less than the current international limit of 300 gigahertz. 5G is set to arrive somewhere in 2019 or 2020 depending on which country you live in. Perhaps the most uncertain part of the internet's future is Article 13. The European Union has recently approved a controversial copyright law called Article 13.

Starting point is 00:09:28 As I discussed in my earlier video, the end of the internet, there are concerns that this new law may have a radical impact on the way that we share and produce content. The law passed by a size of a majority. However, on the question of debating amendments, five Swedish MEP members accidentally pressed the wrong button, meaning no debates, and the vote was binding. While the law has been amended since 2018 to exclude memes from its scope, people still have fears that these are the ones. laws will kill small independent creators and cause massive undesired side effects. At the end of the day, we are the majority, we are in control and the internet is what we make it. So that just about wraps up our look at the internet. I hope you learnt something about how the internet works, who controls it, and is possible future. Thanks for watching, if you've just stumbled across this channel, feel free to subscribe.

Starting point is 00:10:16 This has been to Go-Go-Go, you've been watching Cold Fusion, and I'll see you again soon for the next video. Cheers guys. Have a good one. Cold fusion. It's me thinking.

ColdFusion - The Untold Mechanisms Behind how the Internet Works

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