Microsoft Signs On to Help Build Internet2

Microsoft Corp., criticized for misjudging the importance of the Internet in its earliest days, is joining a research effort to build the formative stages of the next generation of the worldwide computer network. Microsoft becomes the latest corporate partner of Washington-based University Corp. for Advanced Internet Development, which is coordinating the research among more than 150 universities nationwide. Microsoft’s involvement, along with a minimum pledge of $1 million, was expected to be announced today. Other partners include IBM Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and 3Com Corp. The project, called Internet2, is aimed at creating an ultra-fast, experimental computer network with speeds 45,000 times faster than the best telephone modems people now use to surf the Web.