Finnvalco picture-tube factory closes in Imatra. NASA's Voyager 1 transmits pictures from Saturn.

The TCP/IP data transmission protocol is adopted as the US Department of Defense's (DoD) offical network standard. The development of Internet applications and protocols receives considerable support from the Federal government.
The US Department of Defense has since used Internet technology to create its own network inaccessible to outsiders. They still preferred to buy their software from commercial suppliers and to do collaborative research with universities linked to the ARPANET. The results were mostly made public, and they have been of considerable benefit in civilian use of the Internet.

During the 1980s, the Internet was still considered to be a temporary system designed for the research world. The ISO (International Standards Organization) proposed the competing OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model. OSI was particularly backed by telecom organisations. They had built X.25 packet-switching networks, with monitoring and billing implemented to suit their own purposes. The Internet relied on routers owned by the users. The only thing bought from the telecom organisations was leased telecommunication links. From 1981 onwards, things developed increasingly rapidly, so each year will be described separately. In the 1990s, the opening up of competition between telephone companies, along with the development of the World Wide Web, shifted the balance in favour of the Internet, and telephone companies have begun to take a positive interest in Internet connections.

Bottom picture: a heavy 200 bd modem from the 1970s; middle: a top-of-the-range 9600 bit/s modem from the end of the 1980s; and, top: credit-card-sized PCMCIA network and videoconferencing adapters from the end of the 1990s, whose level of integration and power is close to being enough for a lightweight Internet TV station.