In the 1980s, ARPANET gradually gave way to the NSFNET, a government-funded network managed by the National Science Foundation.

Research organizations and universities in the NSFNET continued the process of developing network technology, but the main role of the NSFNET was to encourage communication and research across campuses and even across countries.

Access to the NSFNET was free of charge to the users, but only active members of a facility within the NSFNET could access it. This opened internet activity to all faculty, staff, and students of affiliated universities, even if they were not active researchers in the technology. However, because it was a government program, users of the NSFNET were not allowed to engage in any kind of commercial activity such as selling goods or services using that network connection.

In parallel, European countries were also developing their own computer networks, which were connected to each other across country borders to create international internets.