History of the Early Internet Years (1993-1998) Quiz

Answer: Wired

With financial backing from Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the MIT Media Lab, "Wired" was purchased by Condé Nast in 1998, and is based in San Francisco, California at the time of writing this quiz. First published in 1993, "Wired" covers the latest trends, innovations, and technologies in science, business, computing, telecommunications, design, and also entertainment and culture.

Answer: Yahoo

Yahoo began as "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web" functioning as a directory of websites they organized into various categories. The name "Yahoo" is said to stand for "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle," reflecting the hierarchical directory of categories. Four years after those two Stanford graduates formed "Yahoo" the web site's idiosyncratic interests spread into pretty much every aspect the world offers.

Answer: Spam

The Canter & Siegel attorneys threw spam on line, advertising their green-card lottery services. Debates on Usenet followed quickly with the public complaining about being force-fed the firm's promotions. Even though they were a law firm, the service they were promoting required no legal assistance. All people had to do was fill out a simple form.

Answer: Internet Engineering Task Force

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is an international group of network designers and researchers who join together to discuss and address issues pertinent to the development of internet standards. They help create and promote technical specifications and protocols for the internet.

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) updated Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4), which, for one thing, expanded address space from IPv4's 32-bit addresses to 128-bit addresses. The IPv6 also improved security, routing, and performance.

Answer: Netscape Navigator

Netscape Navigator was created by Marc Andreeson who also founded Mosaic with Eric Bina in 1993. Mr. Andreeson later founded Netscape Communications, and its browser, Netscape Navigator became the dominant browser on the Internet.

The "Browser Wars" were waged between Netscape and Microsoft's web browser, Internet Explorer, as Netscape argued that Microsoft used anticompetitive practices to gain an unfair advantage. The case lasted years, until finally, in 2001, Microsoft had to change some of its business practices and allow original equipment manufacturers to install rival web browsers.

Answer: Bill Clinton

"The Telecommunications Reform Bill" and the "Communications Decency Act" were signed into law by President Bill Clinton on February 8, 1996, and stipulated that fines of up to $100,000 and two years in jail would be imposed for sending "offensive material" over the Internet. The bill passed the Senate and House of Representatives.

A year later, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling cleared the path for Congress to pass the Communications Decency Act. That same year, Clinton would use the word "Internet" in a State of the Union address for the first time. Ironically, at that point he had still not logged onto the Internet.

Answer: Stanford Federal Credit Union (SFCU)

Internet banking and online banking are terms often used interchangeably, but there is a subtle difference. Internet banking encompasses online banking but also includes other forms of electronic banking services provided via the internet. Internet banking may include services like investment management, trading, electronic fund transfers, electronic statements, and other financial services offered by banks over the internet. Internet banking can involve accessing your accounts and conducting financial transactions through various channels such as websites, mobile apps, ATMs, and other electronic platforms. Internet banking basically involves financial services accessed by way of the public internet, commonly using web browsers.

In October 1994, Stanford Federal Credit Union (SFCU) became the first online bank in the world, offering online internet banking services to members of its union. Their secure website allowed customers access to their accounts, along with such abilities such as viewing their account balances, transferring funds from one account to another, and other electronically executed banking transactions. This development in digital banking was a milestone in signifying the power of the internet. Predictably, other financial institutions around the world followed suit such as the OP Financial Group becoming the first online bank in Europe.

Presidential-Well First Securities and Nottingham Fargo Building Network don't exist.

Answer: ICANN

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is primarily involved in coordinating and managing the internet's unique identifiers, such as domain names and IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. Before ICANN was established, these responsibilities were overseen by various groups such as the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

The IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) is a department within ICANN that concentrates on specific technical functions, while ICANN has a broader role: internet administration, policy development, and organizing the domain name system.

Answer: Google

Google, founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, gained an advantage in the search engine competition with its superior algorithms and user-friendly interface. It quickly surpassed many of the others, such as the Lycos search engine which was launched in 1994, as was Yahoo! Search, created by David Filo and Jerry Yang. Ask Jeeves launched in April 1997, and later became known as Ask.com.

Answer: Digital Millennium Copyright Act

In the United States, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was signed into law in 1998, setting internet regulations that updated copyright law for the digital age. It aimed to deal with issues such as online copyright infringement, so that online service providers were protected in case users engaged in copyright infringement. It also dealt with digital rights management, advocating for copyright owners to grant greater access to their works in digital formats, while at the same time offering those owners greater legal protections against unauthorized access.