A worldwide interconnection of individual networks a) with an agreement on how to talk to each other, and b) operated by government, industry, academia, and private parties. Note: The Internet originally served to interconnect laboratories engaged in government research, and has now been expanded to serve millions of users and a multitude of purposes, such as interpersonal messaging, computer conferences, file transfer, and consulting of files containing documents. 2. The international computer network of both federal and nonfederal interoperable packet switched data networks.