The Internet is not owned by any individual or group. The Internet is a worldwide collection of interconnected networks (internetwork or Internet for short), cooperating with each other to exchange information using common standards. Through telephone wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless transmissions, and satellite links, Internet users can exchange information in a variety of forms, as shown in the figure.
Everything that you access online is located somewhere on the global Internet. Social media sites, multi-player games, messaging centers that provide email, online courses – all of these Internet destinations are connected to local networks that send and receive information through the Internet.