The Internet, the story goes, sprang from the labs of government and military scientists who wanted a nuclear-bomb-proof communications network. The World Wide Web came from a software engineer at a quasi-governmental European physics lab. The first Web browser, Mosaic, was invented at the University of Illinois and distributed free. In short, nothing about the Web's origins would seem to make its emergence as a business medium inevitable.

Boy, did that not last long. The corporatization of the Web has proceeded rapidly, as companies set out to find gold in them thar modems-or at least to portray themselves as cutting-edge organizations. At the same time, the Web has become a meeting ground for those who want to start their own companies. A few dozen clicks through this mercantile milieu can trigger thoughts of capitalism even in the crunchy granola set.