What Does W3 Define?

W3 has come to stand for a number of things, which should be distinguished. These include

• The idea of a boundless information world in which all items have a reference by which they can be retrieved;
• The address system (URI) ... implemented to make this possible, despite many different protocols;
• A network protocol (HTTP) ... giving performance and features not otherwise available;
• A markup language (HTML)... used for the transmission of basic things ... across the net;
• The body of data available on the Internet using all or some of the preceding listed items.

From ``The World-Wide Web,''
by T. Berners-Lee, R. Cailliau, et al.,
Communications of the ACM,
v.37, No.8, Aug 1994, pp. 76-82.