ABSTRACT
The previous chapter made several references to the Internet without formally defining it. A formal definition was not called for because most people in modern societies are well acquainted with the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW, or web). Certainly the majority of this book's readers are regular users of the Internet and the web. This chapter will provide some background on the Internet and the WWW before addressing some of the major managerial and public policy issues raised by its existence: namely e-government, e-democracy, e-voting, and the digital divide.
