Underwriting the Internet

Preface

As the worldwide Internet transforms information dissemination and communications technology with considerable impact on society, there is little understanding of how its development occurred and why it spread so rapidly. Impetus for the Internet's growth derived from innovations in computer, software, and networking technology that yielded new user-friendly and marketable products and services. High-tech firms were begun by prescient entrepreneurs eager to commercialize these advances, and financing was supplied by angel investors, venture capitalists, and initial public offerings (IPOs). The arcane technology and specialized use of investment banks that underwrote the start-ups and brokerage houses that traded their securities were ...