DISADVANTAGES — CONSUM�ER/INTERNET 421

UNIQUENESS

THE INTERNET IS INCREASING DRAMATICALLY

Fred H. Cate, Brookings Institution, 1997; PRIVACY IN THE

INFORMATION AGE, EE2001-mfp p. 6

The Internet is perhaps the best example. As of January 1997 this ubiquitous and most familiar information network connects more than 16 million hosts--computer systems or networks, each of which may connect thousands of separate machines-in 190 countries. In January 1996, the Internet connected 9.47 million hosts; four years earlier, there were fewer than 1 million. The growth in commercial on-line services-the bellwether of future financial stability for the Internet-is equally dramatic. In January 1997, almost 4 million Internet hosts were designated ".com" for commercial. 10 Eighteen months earlier, fewer than half-1. 74 million--of those companies were present on the Internet. in 1994, only 774,735 hosts were designated com. This growth is paralleled by the volume of advertising on the Internet and the inclusion of Internet addresses in traditional print and broadcast advertising, and by the number Of commercial transactions taking place via the Internet. These figures tend to underestimate the size of the Internet, but they provide a reliable benchmark for its growth: the Internet has been doubling in size every twelve to fifteen months.

E-COMMERCE REVENUES COULD SOON PASS $1 TRILLION

Hjalma Johnson, chairman and CEO of East Coast Bank Corp., ABA Banking Journal, December, 1999; Pg. 29 TITLE: A privacy challenge // acs-VT2001

Americans increasingly prefer that convenience. More than 80 million of us are online today and by 2003, says Jupiter Communications, e-commerce revenues will have passed $ 1 trillion. By comparison, it took America's banking industry nearly two centuries to reach $ 1 trillion in deposits.

THE INTERNET IS A GROWING CONSUMER MARKETPLACE

Major R. Ken Pippin, Chief of Cadet Disenrollments at HQ USAFA/JA, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado. He is a member of the Bar of the State of Arkansas., "Consumer Privacy on the Internet: It's "Surfer Beware"", The Air Force Law Review, 1999, 47 A.F. L. Rev. 125, EE2001-JGM, p.125-126

One of the driving forces behind the exponential growth of the Internet n4 is its popularity as a consumer marketplace. The United States Department of  [*126]  Commerce recently reported that on-line sales have tripled from approximately $ 3 billion in 1997 to approximately $ 9 billion in 1998. n5 On-line revenues of North American retailers in the first half of 1998 were approximately $ 4.4 billion. n6 On-line advertising revenues have grown from $ 906.5 million in 1996 to $ 1.92 billion in 1998. n7 The Internet, and specifically the World Wide Web, n8 has become a primary source for obtaining goods, services, and information by a large number of people in a very short period of time.