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103-521: The availability of Internet access to the general public began with the commercialization of the early Internet in the early 1990s, and has grown with the availability of useful applications, such as the World Wide Web. In 1995, only 0.04 percent of the world's population had access, with well over half of those living in the United States and consumer use was through dial-up . By the first decade of

206-427: A cable modem on hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) wiring originally developed to carry television signals. Either fiber-optic or coaxial copper cable may connect a node to a customer's location at a connection known as a cable drop. Using a cable modem termination system , all nodes for cable subscribers in a neighborhood connect to a cable company's central office, known as the "head end." The cable company then connects to

309-494: A laptop or PDA . These services may be free to all, free to customers only, or fee-based. A Wi-Fi hotspot need not be limited to a confined location since multiple ones combined can cover a whole campus or park, or even an entire city can be enabled. Additionally, mobile broadband access allows smartphones and other digital devices to connect to the Internet from any location from which a mobile phone call can be made, subject to

412-452: A 128 kbit/s service. Multiple ISDN-BRI lines can be bonded together to provide data rates above 128 kbit/s. Primary rate ISDN, known as ISDN-PRI, has 23 bearer channels (64 kbit/s each) for a combined data rate of 1.5 Mbit/s (US standard). An ISDN E1 (European standard) line has 30 bearer channels and a combined data rate of 1.9 Mbit/s. ISDN has been replaced by DSL technology, and it required special telephone switches at

515-540: A DS0 to provide data rates between 56 and 1500 kbit/s . T-carrier lines require special termination equipment such as Data service units that may be separate from or integrated into a router or switch and which may be purchased or leased from an ISP. In Japan the equivalent standard is J1/J3. In Europe, a slightly different standard, E-carrier , provides 32 user channels ( 64 kbit/s ) on an E1 ( 2.0 Mbit/s ) and 512 user channels or 16 E1s on an E3 ( 34.4 Mbit/s ). Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET, in

618-453: A better quality of service for time critical services even on extremely busy networks. However, overuse can lead to concerns about fairness and network neutrality or even charges of censorship , when some types of traffic are severely or completely blocked. An Internet blackout or outage can be caused by local signaling interruptions. Disruptions of submarine communications cables may cause blackouts or slowdowns to large areas, such as in

721-739: A computer may be accessed without authorization, if (A) such trafficking affects interstate or foreign commerce; or (B) such computer is used by or for the Government of the United States; (7) with intent to extort from any person, any money or other thing of value, transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to cause damage to a protected computer; shall be punished as provided in subsection (c) of this section. (b) Whoever attempts to commit an offense under subsection (a) of this section shall be punished as provided in subsection (c) of this section. (c) The punishment for an offense under subsection (a) or (b) of this section

824-509: A connection to the Internet through the telephone network. Unlike dial-up, DSL can operate using a single phone line without preventing normal use of the telephone line for voice phone calls. DSL uses the high frequencies, while the low (audible) frequencies of the line are left free for regular telephone communication. These frequency bands are subsequently separated by filters installed at the customer's premises. DSL originally stood for "digital subscriber loop". In telecommunications marketing,

927-433: A conviction for another offense under this section, or an attempt to commit an offense punishable under this subparagraph; (B) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, in the case of an offense under subsection (a)(2)or an attempt to commit an offense punishable under this subparagraph, if- (i) the offense was committed for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain; (ii)

1030-452: A conviction for another offense under this section, or an attempt to commit an offense punishable under this subparagraph; and (3) (A) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, in the case of an offense under subsection (a)(4), or (a)(7) of this section which does not occur after a conviction for another offense under this section, or an attempt to commit an offense punishable under this subparagraph; and (B)

1133-416: A department or agency of the United States, accesses such a computer of that department or agency that is exclusively for the use of the Government of the United States or, in the case of a computer not exclusively for such use, is used by or for the Government of the United States and such conduct affects that use by or for the Government of the United States; (4) knowingly and with intent to defraud, accesses

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1236-713: A dial-up modem. The V.42, V.42bis and V.44 standards allow modems to accept compressed data at a rate faster than the line rate. These algorithms use data compression to achieve higher throughput. For instance, a 53.3 kbit/s connection with V.44 can transmit up to 53.3 × 6 = 320 kbit/s if the offered data stream can be compressed that much. However, the compression ratio varies considerably. ZIP archives, JPEG images, MP3 , video, etc. are already compressed. A modem might be sending compressed files at approximately 50 kbit/s, uncompressed files at 160 kbit/s, and pure text at 320 kbit/s, or any rate in this range. As telephone-based Internet lost popularity by

1339-425: A few hours. When the Internet is accessed using a modem, digital data is converted to analog for transmission over analog networks such as the telephone and cable networks. A computer or other device accessing the Internet would either be connected directly to a modem that communicates with an Internet service provider (ISP) or the modem's Internet connection would be shared via a LAN which provides access in

1442-467: A file of a consumer reporting agency on a consumer, as such terms are defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.); (B) information from any department or agency of the United States; or (C) information from any protected computer if the conduct involved an interstate or foreign communication; (3) intentionally, without authorization to access any nonpublic computer of

1545-406: A fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both, in the case of an offense under subsection (a)(4), (a)(5)(A)(iii) or (a)(7) of this section which occurs after a conviction for another offense under this section, or an attempt to commit an offense punishable under this subparagraph; and (4) (A) a fine under this title, imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both, in

1648-842: A full DS3. Higher data rates are delivered in OC-3c multiples of four providing OC-12c ( 622.080 Mbit/s ), OC-48c ( 2.488 Gbit/s ), OC-192c ( 9.953 Gbit/s ), and OC-768c ( 39.813 Gbit/s ). The "c" at the end of the OC labels stands for "concatenated" and indicates a single data stream rather than several multiplexed data streams. Optical transport network (OTN) may be used instead of SONET for higher data transmission speeds of up to 400 Gbit/s per OTN channel. The 1 , 10 , 40, and 100 Gigabit Ethernet IEEE standards (802.3) allow digital data to be delivered over copper wiring at distances to 100 m and over optical fiber at distances to 40 km . Cable Internet provides access using

1751-422: A household phone socket. This connection allowed to download data at request and to report usage (e.g. ordering pay-per-view ) to the service provider. This feature did not require an Internet service provider account – instead, the device's internal modem dialed the server of the service provider directly. These devices may experience difficulties when operating on a VoIP line because the compression could alter

1854-552: A limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building. Although a connection to a LAN may provide very high data-rates within the LAN, actual Internet access speed is limited by the upstream link to the ISP. LANs may be wired or wireless. Ethernet over twisted pair cabling and Wi-Fi are the two most common technologies used to build LANs today, but ARCNET , Token Ring , LocalTalk , FDDI , and other technologies were used in

1957-409: A modem and a phone call placed over the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to connect to a pool of modems operated by an ISP. The modem converts a computer's digital signal into an analog signal that travels over a phone line's local loop until it reaches a telephone company's switching facilities or central office (CO) where it is switched to another phone line that connects to another modem at

2060-467: A portable hand held calculator , or other similar device; (2) the term "protected computer" means a computer (A) exclusively for the use of a financial institution or the United States Government, or, in the case of a computer not exclusively for such use, used by or for a financial institution or the United States Government and the conduct constituting the offense affects that use by or for

2163-436: A protected computer without authorization, or exceeds authorized access, and by means of such conduct furthers the intended fraud and obtains anything of value, unless the object of the fraud and the thing obtained consists only of the use of the computer and the value of such use is not more than $ 5,000 in any one-year period; (5) (A) (i) knowingly causes the transmission of a program, information, code, or command, and as

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2266-498: A receiving modem. This receiving modem would demodulate the signal from analogue noise, back into digital data for the computer to process. The simplicity of this arrangement meant that people would be unable to use their phone line for verbal communication until the Internet call was finished. The Internet speed using this technology can drop to 21.6 kbit/s or less. Poor condition of the telephone line, high noise level and other factors all affect dial-up speed. For this reason, it

2369-410: A replacement for T1 and Frame Relay lines for corporate and institutional customers, or offer carrier-grade Ethernet. The use of optical fiber offers much higher data rates over relatively longer distances. Most high-capacity Internet and cable television backbones already use fiber optic technology, with data switched to other technologies (DSL, cable, LTE) for final delivery to customers. Fiber optic

2472-457: A result of such conduct, intentionally causes damage without authorization, to a protected computer; (ii) intentionally accesses a protected computer without authorization, and as a result of such conduct, recklessly causes damage; or (iii) intentionally accesses a protected computer without authorization, and as a result of such conduct, causes damage; and (B) by conduct described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of subparagraph (A), caused (or, in

2575-514: A second phone line. However, many rural areas remain without high-speed Internet, despite the eagerness of potential customers. This can be attributed to population, location, or sometimes ISPs' lack of interest due to little chance of profitability and high costs to build the required infrastructure. Some dial-up ISPs have responded to the increased competition by lowering their rates and making dial-up an attractive option for those who merely want email access or basic Web browsing. Dial-up has seen

2678-408: A service to become oversubscribed, resulting in congestion and poor performance. The TCP protocol includes flow-control mechanisms that automatically throttle back on the bandwidth being used during periods of network congestion . This is fair in the sense that all users who experience congestion receive less bandwidth, but it can be frustrating for customers and a major problem for ISPs. In some cases,

2781-414: A significant fall in usage, with the potential to cease to exist in future as more users switch to broadband. In 2013, only about 3% of the U.S population used dial-up, compared to 30% in 2000. One contributing factor is the bandwidth requirements of newer computer programs, like operating systems and antivirus software, which automatically download sizeable updates in the background when a connection to

2884-575: A speed of 56  kbit/s , as they are primarily made using modems that operate at a maximum data rate of 56 kbit/s downstream (towards the end user) and 34 or 48 kbit/s upstream (toward the global Internet). Multilink dial-up provides increased bandwidth by channel bonding multiple dial-up connections and accessing them as a single data channel. It requires two or more modems, phone lines, and dial-up accounts, as well as an ISP that supports multilinking – and of course any line and data charges are also doubled. This inverse multiplexing option

2987-415: Is – (1) (A) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both, in the case of an offense under subsection (a)(1) of this section which does not occur after a conviction for another offense under this section, or an attempt to commit an offense punishable under this subparagraph; and (B) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both, in

3090-582: Is 64 kbit/s and reserves 8 kbit/s for signaling information; therefore a 56 kbit/s connection is the highest that will ever be possible with analog phone lines. Dial-up connections usually have latency as high as 150 ms or even more, higher than many forms of broadband, such as cable or DSL, but typically less than satellite connections. Longer latency can make video conferencing and online gaming difficult, if not impossible. An increasing amount of Internet content such as streaming media will not work at dial-up speeds. Video games released from

3193-657: Is a switched telephone service capable of transporting voice and digital data, and is one of the oldest Internet access methods. ISDN has been used for voice, video conferencing, and broadband data applications. ISDN was very popular in Europe, but less common in North America. Its use peaked in the late 1990s before the availability of DSL and cable modem technologies. Basic rate ISDN, known as ISDN-BRI, has two 64 kbit/s "bearer" or "B" channels. These channels can be used separately for voice or data calls or bonded together to provide

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3296-483: Is capable of supporting applications such as high-definition television, as well as telephone services ( voice over IP ) and general Internet access, over a single physical connection. VDSL2 ( ITU-T G.993.2 ) is a second-generation version and an enhancement of VDSL. Approved in February 2006, it is able to provide data rates exceeding 100 Mbit/s simultaneously in both the upstream and downstream directions. However,

3399-1072: Is defined in section 11y of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2014(y))), except for offenses affecting the duties of the United States Secret Service pursuant to section 3056(a) of this title. (3) Such authority shall be exercised in accordance with an agreement which shall be entered into by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney General. (e) As used in this section (1) the term " computer " means an electronic, magnetic, optical, electrochemical, or other high speed data processing device performing logical, arithmetic, or storage functions, and includes any data storage facility or communications facility directly related to or operating in conjunction with such device, but such term does not include an automated typewriter or typesetter ,

3502-514: Is immune to electromagnetic interference. In 2010, Australia began rolling out its National Broadband Network across the country using fiber-optic cables to 93 percent of Australian homes, schools, and businesses. The project was abandoned by the subsequent LNP government, in favor of a hybrid FTTN design, which turned out to be more expensive and introduced delays. Similar efforts are underway in Italy, Canada, India, and many other countries (see Fiber to

3605-1200: Is not readily available. Newer technologies being deployed for fixed (stationary) and mobile broadband access include WiMAX , LTE , and fixed wireless . Starting in roughly 2006, mobile broadband access is increasingly available at the consumer level using " 3G " and " 4G " technologies such as HSPA , EV-DO , HSPA+ , and LTE . In addition to access from home, school, and the workplace Internet access may be available from public places such as libraries and Internet cafés , where computers with Internet connections are available. Some libraries provide stations for physically connecting users' laptops to LANs. Wireless Internet access points are available in public places such as airport halls, in some cases just for brief use while standing. Some access points may also provide coin-operated computers. Various terms are used, such as "public Internet kiosk ", "public access terminal", and "Web payphone ". Many hotels also have public terminals, usually fee based. Coffee shops, shopping malls, and other venues increasingly offer wireless access to computer networks, referred to as hotspots , for users who bring their own wireless-enabled devices such as

3708-575: Is popularly called the 21600 Syndrome. Dial-up connections to the Internet require no additional infrastructure other than the telephone network and the modems and servers needed to make and answer the calls. Because telephone access is widely available, dial-up is often the only choice available for rural or remote areas, where broadband installations are not prevalent due to low population density and high infrastructure cost. A 2008 Pew Research Center study stated that only 10% of US adults still used dial-up Internet access. The study found that

3811-450: Is related to Moore's law ), with the bandwidths of telecommunications networks rising from bits per second to terabits per second . Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just broadband, is simply defined as "Internet access that is always on, and faster than the traditional dial-up access" and so covers a wide range of technologies. The core of these broadband Internet technologies are complementary MOS (CMOS) digital circuits ,

3914-415: Is the way 20th century technology tunneled through a 19th century network ; what you're hearing is how a network designed to send the noises made by your muscles as they pushed around air came to transmit anything [that can be] coded in zeroes and ones. Analog telephone lines are digitally switched and transported inside a Digital Signal 0 once reaching the telephone company's equipment. Digital Signal 0

4017-595: Is yet to have been implemented in real-world usage. Broadband cable access tends to service fewer business customers because existing television cable networks tend to service residential buildings; commercial buildings do not always include wiring for coaxial cable networks. In addition, because broadband cable subscribers share the same local line, communications may be intercepted by neighboring subscribers. Cable networks regularly provide encryption schemes for data traveling to and from customers, but these schemes may be thwarted. Digital subscriber line (DSL) service provides

4120-405: The 2008 submarine cable disruption . Less-developed countries are more vulnerable due to a small number of high-capacity links. Land cables are also vulnerable, as in 2011 when a woman digging for scrap metal severed most connectivity for the nation of Armenia. Internet blackouts affecting almost entire countries can be achieved by governments as a form of Internet censorship , as in the blockage of

4223-542: The ARPANET , which was funded by the US government to support projects within the government, at universities and research laboratories in the US, but grew over time to include most of the world's large universities and the research arms of many technology companies. Use by a wider audience only came in 1995 when restrictions on the use of the Internet to carry commercial traffic were lifted. In

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4326-587: The CCITT standards body defined "broadband service" as requiring transmission channels capable of supporting bit rates greater than the primary rate which ranged from about 1.5 to 2 Mbit/s. A 2006 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report defined broadband as having download data transfer rates equal to or faster than 256 kbit/s. And in 2015 the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) defined "Basic Broadband" as data transmission speeds of at least 25 Mbit/s downstream (from

4429-509: The Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 , supported dial-up as well as broadband. The GameCube could use dial-up and broadband connections, but this was used in very few games and required a separate adapter. The original Xbox exclusively required a broadband connection. Many computer and video games released since 2006 do not even include the option to use dial-up. However, there are exceptions to this, such as Vendetta Online , which can still run on

4532-875: The Farm Credit System under the Farm Credit Act of 1971 ; (F) a broker-dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to section 15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ; (G) the Securities Investor Protection Corporation ; (H) a branch or agency of a foreign bank (as such terms are defined in paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 1(b) of the International Banking Act of 1978 ); and (I) an organization operating under section 25 or section 25(a) of

4635-488: The Federal Reserve Act . (5) the term "financial record" means information derived from any record held by a financial institution pertaining to a customer's relationship with the financial institution; (6) the term "exceeds authorized access" means to access a computer with authorization and to use such access to obtain or alter information in the computer that the accesser is not entitled so to obtain or alter; (7)

4738-510: The Internet in Egypt , whereby approximately 93% of networks were without access in 2011 in an attempt to stop mobilization for anti-government protests . On April 25, 1997, due to a combination of human error and a software bug, an incorrect routing table at MAI Network Service (a Virginia Internet service provider ) propagated across backbone routers and caused major disruption to Internet traffic for

4841-758: The United States Government pursuant to an Executive order or statute to require protection against unauthorized disclosure for reasons of national defense or foreign relations, or any restricted data, as defined in paragraph y. of section 11 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 , with reason to believe that such information so obtained could be used to the injury of the United States, or to the advantage of any foreign nation willfully communicates, delivers, transmits, or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted, or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted

4944-531: The University of Kent offered dial-up UUCP to non-academic users in the late 1980s. Commercial dial-up Internet access was first offered in 1992 by Sprint in the United States and by Pipex in the United Kingdom. After the introduction of commercial broadband in the late 1990s, dial-up became less popular. In the United States, the availability of dial-up Internet access dropped from 40% of Americans in

5047-465: The Usenet . The Usenet was a UNIX based system that used a dial-up connection to transfer data through telephone modems. Dial-up Internet access has existed since the 1980s via public providers such as NSFNET -linked universities in the United States. In the United Kingdom, JANET linked academic users, including a connection to the ARPANET via University College London , while Brunel University and

5150-479: The medical examination , diagnosis, treatment, or care of one or more individuals; (iii) physical injury to any person; (iv) a threat to public health or safety; or (v) damage affecting a computer system used by or for a government entity in furtherance of the administration of justice , national defense , or national security ; (6) knowingly and with intent to defraud traffics (as defined in section 1029) in any password or similar information through which

5253-543: The 1990s, the National Information Infrastructure initiative in the U.S. made broadband Internet access a public policy issue. In 2000, most Internet access to homes was provided using dial-up, while many businesses and schools were using broadband connections. In 2000 there were just under 150 million dial-up subscriptions in the 34 OECD countries and fewer than 20 million broadband subscriptions. By 2004, broadband had grown and dial-up had declined so that

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5356-419: The 21st century, many consumers in developed nations used faster broadband technology. By 2014, 41 percent of the world's population had access, broadband was almost ubiquitous worldwide, and global average connection speeds exceeded one megabit per second. Types of connections range from fixed cable home (such as DSL and fiber optic ) to mobile (via cellular ) and satellite . The Internet developed from

5459-535: The ISP. Dial-up Internet reached its peak popularity during the dot-com bubble with the likes of ISPs such as Sprint , EarthLink , MSN Dial-up , NetZero , Prodigy , and America Online (more commonly known as AOL ). This was in large part because broadband Internet did not become widely used until well into the 2000s. Since then, most dial-up access has been replaced by broadband . In 1979, Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis , graduates of Duke University , created an early predecessor to dial-up Internet access called

5562-442: The Internet is first made. These background downloads can take several minutes or longer and, until all updates are completed, they can severely impact the amount of bandwidth available to other applications like Web browsers. Since an "always on" broadband is the norm expected by most newer applications being developed, this automatic background downloading trend is expected to continue to eat away at dial-up's available bandwidth to

5665-486: The Internet protocols and only provided terminal-to-host connections. The introduction of network access servers supporting the Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) and later the point-to-point protocol (PPP) extended the Internet protocols and made the full range of Internet services available to dial-up users; although slower, due to the lower data rates available using dial-up. An important factor in

5768-558: The Internet to the user's computer ) and 3 Mbit/s upstream (from the user's computer to the Internet). The trend is to raise the threshold of the broadband definition as higher data rate services become available. The higher data rate dial-up modems and many broadband services are "asymmetric"—supporting much higher data rates for download (toward the user) than for upload (toward the Internet). Data rates, including those given in this article, are usually defined and advertised in terms of

5871-538: The Internet using a variety of means – usually fiber optic cable or digital satellite and microwave transmissions. Like DSL, broadband cable provides a continuous connection with an ISP. Downstream , the direction toward the user, bit rates can be as much as 1000  Mbit/s in some countries, with the use of DOCSIS 3.1. Upstream traffic, originating at the user, ranges from 384 kbit/s to more than 50 Mbit/s. DOCSIS 4.0 promises up to 10 Gbit/s downstream and 6 Gbit/s upstream, however this technology

5974-583: The U.S. and Canada) and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH, in the rest of the world) are the standard multiplexing protocols used to carry high-data-rate digital bit-streams over optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs). At lower transmission rates data can also be transferred via an electrical interface. The basic unit of framing is an OC-3c (optical) or STS-3c (electrical) which carries 155.520 Mbit/s . Thus an OC-3c will carry three OC-1 (51.84 Mbit/s) payloads each of which has enough capacity to include

6077-548: The UK. BT turned off its dial-up service in 2013. In 2012, it was estimated that 7% of Internet connections in New Zealand were dial-up. One NZ (formerly Vodafone) turned off its dial-up service in 2021. Modern dial-up modems typically have a maximum theoretical transfer speed of 56 kbit/s (using the V.90 or V.92 protocol ), although in most cases, 40–50 kbit/s is the norm. Factors such as phone line noise as well as

6180-707: The United States; (4) the term "financial institution" means (A) an institution with deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ; (B) the Federal Reserve or a member of the Federal Reserve including any Federal Reserve Bank ; (C) a credit union with accounts insured by the National Credit Union Administration ; (D) a member of the Federal home loan bank system and any home loan bank; (E) any institution of

6283-646: The additional functionality to host a LAN so most Internet access today is through a LAN such as that created by a WiFi router connected to a modem or a combo modem router, often a very small LAN with just one or two devices attached. And while LANs are an important form of Internet access, this raises the question of how and at what data rate the LAN itself is connected to the rest of the global Internet. The technologies described below are used to make these connections, or in other words, how customers' modems ( Customer-premises equipment ) are most often connected to internet service providers (ISPs). Dial-up Internet access uses

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6386-417: The amount of bandwidth actually available may fall below the threshold required to support a particular service such as video conferencing or streaming live video–effectively making the service unavailable. When traffic is particularly heavy, an ISP can deliberately throttle back the bandwidth available to classes of users or for particular services. This is known as traffic shaping and careful use can ensure

6489-418: The buffering used by a reverse proxy to bridge the different data rates. Despite the rapid decline, dial-up Internet still exists in some rural areas, and many areas of developing and underdeveloped nations, although wireless and satellite broadband are providing faster connections in many rural areas where fibre or copper may be uneconomical. In 2010, it was estimated that there were 800,000 dial-up users in

6592-428: The capabilities of that mobile network. The bit rates for dial-up modems range from as little as 110 bit/s in the late 1950s, to a maximum of from 33 to 64 kbit/s ( V.90 and V.92 ) in the late 1990s. Dial-up connections generally require the dedicated use of a telephone line. Data compression can boost the effective bit rate for a dial-up modem connection from 220 ( V.42bis ) to 320 ( V.44 ) kbit/s. However,

6695-463: The case of an attempted offense, would, if completed, have caused)– (i) loss to one or more persons during any one year period (and, for purposes of an investigation, prosecution, or other proceeding brought by the United States only, loss resulting from a related course of conduct affecting one or more other protected computers) aggregating at least $ 5,000 in value; (ii) the modification or impairment , or potential modification or impairment, of

6798-465: The case of an offense under subsection (a)(1) of this section which occurs after a conviction for another offense under this section, or an attempt to commit an offense punishable under this subparagraph; and (2) (A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both, in the case of an offense under subsection (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(5)(A)(iii), or (a)(6) of this section which does not occur after

6901-711: The case of an offense under subsection (a)(5)(A)(i) or (a)(5)(A)(ii), or an attempt to commit an offense punishable under either subsection, that occurs after a conviction for another offense under this section. (d)(1) The United States Secret Service shall, in addition to any other agency having such authority, have the authority to investigate offenses under this section. (2) The Federal Bureau of Investigation shall have primary authority to investigate offenses under subsection (a)(1) for any cases involving espionage , foreign counterintelligence , information protected against unauthorized disclosure for reasons of national defense or foreign relations, or Restricted Data (as that term

7004-413: The case of an offense under subsection (a)(5)(A)(i), or an attempt to commit an offense punishable under that subsection; (B) a fine under this title, imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or both, in the case of an offense under subsection (a)(5)(A)(ii), or an attempt to commit an offense punishable under that subsection; (C) a fine under this title, imprisonment for not more than 20 years, or both, in

7107-435: The detriment of dial-up users' applications. Many newer websites also now assume broadband speeds as the norm, and when connected to with slower dial-up speeds may drop (timeout) these slower connections to free up communication resources. On websites that are designed to be more dial-up friendly, use of a reverse proxy prevents dial-ups from being dropped as often but can introduce long wait periods for dial-up users caused by

7210-430: The early 2000s to 3% in the early 2010s. It is still used where other forms are not available or where the cost is too high, as in some rural or remote areas. Because there was no technology to allow different carrier signals on a telephone line at the time, dial-up Internet access relied on using audio communication. A modem would take the digital data from a computer, modulate it into an audio signal and send it to

7313-561: The early to mid-1980s, most Internet access was from personal computers and workstations directly connected to local area networks (LANs) or from dial-up connections using modems and analog telephone lines . LANs typically operated at 10 Mbit/s while modem data-rates grew from 1200 bit/s in the early 1980s to 56 kbit/s by the late 1990s. Initially, dial-up connections were made from terminals or computers running terminal-emulation software to terminal servers on LANs. These dial-up connections did not support end-to-end use of

7416-512: The effectiveness of data compression is quite variable, depending on the type of data being sent, the condition of the telephone line, and a number of other factors. In reality, the overall data rate rarely exceeds 150 kbit/s. Broadband technologies supply considerably higher bit rates than dial-up, generally without disrupting regular telephone use. Various minimum data rates and maximum latencies have been used in definitions of broadband, ranging from 64 kbit/s up to 4.0 Mbit/s. In 1988

7519-573: The end user on optical fibers. The differences between the methods have mostly to do with just how close to the end user the delivery on fiber comes. All of these delivery methods are similar in function and architecture to hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) systems used to provide cable Internet access. Fiber internet connections to customers are either AON ( Active optical network ) or more commonly PON ( Passive optical network ). Examples of fiber optic internet access standards are G.984 (GPON, G-PON) and 10G-PON (XG-PON). ISPs may instead use Metro Ethernet as

7622-429: The facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telephone line which could be connected using an RJ-11 connector. Dial-up connections use modems to decode audio signals into data to send to a router or computer, and to encode signals from the latter two devices to send to another modem at

7725-538: The financial institution or the Government; or (B) which is used in interstate or foreign commerce or communications, including a computer located outside the United States that is used in a manner that affects interstate or foreign commerce or communication of the United States; (3) the term "State" includes the District of Columbia , the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , and any other commonwealth, possession or territory of

7828-648: The maximum data rate is achieved at a range of about 300 meters and performance degrades as distance and loop attenuation increases. DSL Rings (DSLR) or Bonded DSL Rings is a ring topology that uses DSL technology over existing copper telephone wires to provide data rates of up to 400 Mbit/s. Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) is one member of the Fiber-to-the-x (FTTx) family that includes Fiber-to-the-building or basement (FTTB), Fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP), Fiber-to-the-desk (FTTD), Fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC), and Fiber-to-the-node (FTTN). These methods all bring data closer to

7931-507: The maximum or peak download rate. In practice, these maximum data rates are not always reliably available to the customer. Actual end-to-end data rates can be lower due to a number of factors. In late June 2016, internet connection speeds averaged about 6 Mbit/s globally. Physical link quality can vary with distance and for wireless access with terrain, weather, building construction, antenna placement, and interference from other radio sources. Network bottlenecks may exist at points anywhere on

8034-482: The mid-1990s to the mid-2000s that utilized Internet access such as EverQuest , Red Faction , Warcraft 3 , Final Fantasy XI , Phantasy Star Online , Guild Wars , Unreal Tournament , Halo: Combat Evolved , Audition , Quake 3: Arena , Starsiege: Tribes and Ragnarok Online , etc., accommodated for 56k dial-up with limited data transfer between the game servers and user's personal computer. The first consoles to provide Internet connectivity,

8137-456: The mid-2000s, some Internet service providers such as TurboUSA, Netscape , CdotFree, and NetZero started using data compression to increase the perceived speed. As an example, EarthLink advertises "surf the Web up to 7x faster" using a compression program on images, text/html, and SWF flash animations prior to transmission across the phone line. The pre-compression operates much more efficiently than

8240-438: The modem signal. Later, these devices moved to using an Ethernet connection to the user's Internet router , which became a more convenient approach due to the growth in popularity of broadband. National Information Infrastructure Protection Act The National Information Infrastructure Protection Act ( Pub. L.   104–294 (text) (PDF) , 110  Stat.   3488 , enacted October 11, 1996 ; H.R. 3723 )

8343-602: The most common reason for retaining dial-up access was high broadband prices. Users cited lack of infrastructure as a reason less often than stating that they would never upgrade to broadband. That number had fallen to 6% by 2010, and to 3% by 2013. A survey conducted in 2018 estimated that 0.3% of Americans were using dial-up by 2017. The CRTC estimated that there were 336,000 Canadian dial-up users in 2010. Broadband Internet access via cable , digital subscriber line , wireless broadband , mobile broadband , satellite and FTTx has replaced dial-up access in many parts of

8446-526: The number of subscriptions were roughly equal at 130 million each. In 2010, in the OECD countries, over 90% of the Internet access subscriptions used broadband, broadband had grown to more than 300 million subscriptions, and dial-up subscriptions had declined to fewer than 30 million. The broadband technologies in widest use are of digital subscriber line (DSL), ADSL , and cable Internet access . Newer technologies include VDSL and optical fiber extended closer to

8549-458: The offense was committed in furtherance of any criminal or tortious act in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States or of any State; or (iii) the value of the information obtained exceeds $ 5,000; (C) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both, in the case of an offense under subsection (a)(2), (a)(3) or (a)(6) of this section which occurs after

8652-427: The on-the-fly compression of V.44 modems. Typically, website text is compacted to 5%, thus increasing effective throughput to approximately 1000 kbit/s, and JPEG/GIF/PNG images are lossy-compressed to 15–20%, increasing effective throughput up to 300 kbit/s. The drawback of this approach is a loss in quality, where the graphics acquire compression artifacts taking on a blurry or colorless appearance. However,

8755-495: The past. Ethernet is the name of the IEEE 802.3 standard for physical LAN communication and Wi-Fi is a trade name for a wireless local area network (WLAN) that uses one of the IEEE 802.11 standards. Ethernet cables are interconnected via switches & routers. Wi-Fi networks are built using one or more wireless antenna called access points . Many "modems" ( cable modems , DSL gateways or Optical Network Terminals (ONTs)) provide

8858-614: The path from the end-user to the remote server or service being used and not just on the first or last link providing Internet access to the end-user. Users may share access over a common network infrastructure. Since most users do not use their full connection capacity all of the time, this aggregation strategy (known as contended service ) usually works well, and users can burst to their full data rate at least for brief periods. However, peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing and high-quality streaming video can require high data-rates for extended periods, which violates these assumptions and can cause

8961-550: The premises by country). Power-line Internet , also known as Broadband over power lines (BPL), carries Internet data on a conductor that is also used for electric power transmission . Because of the extensive power line infrastructure already in place, this technology can provide people in rural and low population areas access to the Internet with little cost in terms of new transmission equipment, cables, or wires. Data rates are asymmetric and generally range from 256 kbit/s to 2.7 Mbit/s. Because these systems use parts of

9064-515: The quality of the modem itself play a large part in determining connection speeds. Some connections may be as low as 20 kbit/s in extremely noisy environments, such as in a hotel room where the phone line is shared with many extensions, or in a rural area, many kilometres from the phone exchange. Other factors such as long loops, loading coils , pair gain , electric fences (usually in rural locations), and digital loop carriers can also slow connections to 20 kbit/s or lower. Note that

9167-408: The radio spectrum allocated to other over-the-air communication services, interference between the services is a limiting factor in the introduction of power-line Internet systems. The IEEE P1901 standard specifies that all power-line protocols must detect existing usage and avoid interfering with it. Dial-up Internet access Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses

9270-633: The rapid rise of Internet access speed has been advances in MOSFET (MOS transistor) technology. The MOSFET invented at Bell Labs between 1955 and 1960 following Frosch and Derick discoveries, is the building block of the Internet telecommunications networks . The laser , originally demonstrated by Charles H. Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow in 1960, was adopted for MOS light-wave systems around 1980, which led to exponential growth of Internet bandwidth . Continuous MOSFET scaling has since led to online bandwidth doubling every 18 months ( Edholm's law , which

9373-407: The remote end of the connection. Operating on a single channel, a dial-up connection monopolizes the phone line and is one of the slowest methods of accessing the Internet. Dial-up is often the only form of Internet access available in rural areas as it requires no new infrastructure beyond the already existing telephone network, to connect to the Internet. Typically, dial-up connections do not exceed

9476-451: The same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it; (2) intentionally accesses a computer without authorization or exceeds authorized access, and thereby obtains– (A) information contained in a financial record of a financial institution, or of a card issuer as defined in section 1602(n) of title 15, or contained in

9579-922: The service provider. Leased lines are dedicated lines used primarily by ISPs, business, and other large enterprises to connect LANs and campus networks to the Internet using the existing infrastructure of the public telephone network or other providers. Delivered using wire, optical fiber , and radio , leased lines are used to provide Internet access directly as well as the building blocks from which several other forms of Internet access are created. T-carrier technology dates to 1957 and provides data rates that range from 56 and 64 kbit/s ( DS0 ) to 1.5 Mbit/s ( DS1 or T1), to 45 Mbit/s ( DS3 or T3). A T1 line carries 24 voice or data channels (24 DS0s), so customers may use some channels for data and others for voice traffic or use all 24 channels for clear channel data. A DS3 (T3) line carries 28 DS1 (T1) channels. Fractional T1 lines are also available in multiples of

9682-509: The speed capabilities of which were extended with innovative design techniques. Broadband connections are typically made using a computer's built in Ethernet networking capabilities, or by using a NIC expansion card . Most broadband services provide a continuous "always on" connection; there is no dial-in process required, and it does not interfere with voice use of phone lines. Broadband provides improved access to Internet services such as: In

9785-607: The subscriber in both telephone and cable plants. Fiber-optic communication , while only recently being used in premises and to the curb schemes, has played a crucial role in enabling broadband Internet access by making transmission of information at very high data rates over longer distances much more cost-effective than copper wire technology. In areas not served by ADSL or cable, some community organizations and local governments are installing Wi-Fi networks. Wireless, satellite, and microwave Internet are often used in rural, undeveloped, or other hard to serve areas where wired Internet

9888-418: The term "department of the United States" means the legislative or judicial branch of the Government or one of the executive departments enumerated in section 101 of title 5; (8) the term 'damage' means any impairment to the integrity or availability of data, a program, a system, or information; (9) the term 'government entity' includes the Government of the United States, any State or political subdivision of

9991-410: The term digital subscriber line is widely understood to mean asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), the most commonly installed variety of DSL. The data throughput of consumer DSL services typically ranges from 256 kbit/s to 20 Mbit/s in the direction to the customer (downstream), depending on DSL technology, line conditions, and service-level implementation. In ADSL, the data throughput in

10094-400: The transfer speed is dramatically improved. If desired, the user may choose to view uncompressed images instead, but at a much slower load rate. Since streaming music and video are already compressed at the source, they are typically passed by the ISP unaltered. Other devices, such as satellite receivers and digital video recorders (such as TiVo ), have also used a dial-up connection using

10197-588: The upstream direction, (i.e., in the direction to the service provider) is lower than that in the downstream direction (i.e. to the customer), hence the designation of asymmetric. With a symmetric digital subscriber line (SDSL), the downstream and upstream data rates are equal. Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL or VHDSL, ITU G.993.1) is a digital subscriber line (DSL) standard approved in 2001 that provides data rates up to 52 Mbit/s downstream and 16 Mbit/s upstream over copper wires and up to 85 Mbit/s down- and upstream on coaxial cable. VDSL

10300-543: The values given are maximum values, and actual values may be slower under certain conditions (for example, noisy phone lines). [The dial-up sounds are] a choreographed sequence that allowed these digital devices to piggyback on an analog telephone network. A phone line carries only the small range of frequencies in which most human conversation takes place: about three hundred to three thousand hertz. The modem works within these [telephone network] limits in creating sound waves to carry data across phone lines. What you're hearing

10403-447: The world. Broadband connections typically offer speeds of 700 kbit/s or higher for two-thirds more than the price of dial-up on average. In addition, broadband connections are always on, thus avoiding the need to connect and disconnect at the start and end of each session. Broadband does not require the exclusive use of a phone line, and thus one can access the Internet and at the same time make and receive voice phone calls without having

10506-704: Was Title II of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 , as an amendment to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act . The Act was enacted in 1996 as an amendment to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act . It modifies the earlier Code. The text is included in its entirety below. § 1030. Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Computers (a) Whoever (1) having knowingly accessed a computer without authorization or exceeding authorized access, and by means of such conduct having obtained information that has been determined by

10609-450: Was briefly popular with some high-end users before ISDN, DSL and other technologies became available. Diamond and other vendors created special modems to support multilinking. The term broadband includes a broad range of technologies, all of which provide higher data rate access to the Internet. The following technologies use wires or cables in contrast to wireless broadband described later. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)

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