This book gives an overview of the leading-edge Internet application areas (streaming multimedia, collaborative tools, Web databases) and key information policy issues (privacy, censorship, information quality, and more). The text serves as a primer on understanding the forces--economic, legal, social, as well as technological--that are shaping the future of the Internet. The book is organized into nine chapters, authored by multiple contributors. Chapters include: (1) "Introduction"; (2) "Health of the Internet"; (3) "Censorship and the First Amendment"; (4) "Anonymity, Privacy, and Security"; (5) "Information Quality"; (6) "Internet Commerce: A Global Marketspace"; (7) "Distance Education: A Killer App?"; (8) "Streaming Audio" (Gary Geisler, Erika Grams); and (9) "Streaming Video" (Chris Brannon, Matt Digan, Mark Koyanagi). Individual subheadings include: "Network (R)Evolution" (Bert J. Dempsey); "Overview of the Book" (Paul Jones); "Internet Access and the Telephone Network" (Chris Brannon); "Managing Naming in the Internet" (SaiAnand Balu); "Extending First Amendment Protections to the Internet" (Joey Senat); "Global Censorship" (Erika Grams); "Child Protection" (Kimberly Ryan); "Privacy" (W. John MacMullen); "Anonymity" (W. John Mullen); "Security" (W. John MacMullen); "The Clipper Chip" (Nathan Harwell); "Is the Truth Out There?: Defining Information Quality" (Serena Fenton); "Evaluating the IQ (Information Quality) of Web Publications" (Mary M. Rivas-Rodriguez); "Commence on the Internet" (W. John MacMullen); "Web Ads a la Click Here!" (Matt Digan);"The New Demand for Distance Education" (Gary Geisler); "The Virtual Classroom" (D. Jay Cervino); "Putting Courses On-line: Theory and Practice" (Mark Koyanagi); Fifteen figures and tables illustrate the text. (AEF)