Press Evidence Index

Primary Media Documentation of Digital Island’s Global Internet Buildout (1996–2001)

Purpose
This page indexes contemporaneous press releases and third-party journalism documenting Digital Island’s role in building the first operational global Internet infrastructure.

This is independent corroboration, not self-assertion.

Foundational Infrastructure & Customers

Cisco Systems — First Customer

Date: January 20, 1997
Headline: Digital Island Announces Cisco Systems as First Customer of New Global Network
Significance:

  • First global “virtual server” architecture

  • Commercial proof of Tier-0 Internet hosting

  • Triggered institutional funding

Stanford University — Academic Validation

Date: June 24, 1997
Headline: Digital Island Announces Stanford University as New Customer
Measured Results:

  • 160% performance improvement vs public Internet

  • 100% availability during international tests
    Significance:

  • Independent academic benchmarking

  • Enabled global scientific publishing (HighWire Press)

Global Infrastructure Expansion

United Kingdom Data Center

Date: September 29, 1997
Headline: Digital Island Establishes UK Data Center for Its Single-Hop Global Network
Significance:

  • Reduced transatlantic bottlenecks

  • First true bidirectional global application access

Hong Kong Data Center

Date: August 12, 1999
Headline: Digital Island Announces First Hong Kong Data Center
Significance:

  • Enabled Asian market localization

  • Reduced reliance on illegal international circuits

Commerce & Financial Systems

MasterCard International

Date: March 8, 1999
Headline: MasterCard International Selects Digital Island
Significance:

  • First globally localized financial web infrastructure

  • Enabled real-time ATM and transaction services

E*TRADE Strategic Investment

Date: September 14, 1998
Headline: ETRADE Invests $10.5M; Founder Joins Board*
Significance:

  • Confirms Digital Island as financial infrastructure

  • Direct board-level validation

Infrastructure at Planetary Scale

Sun Microsystems & Inktomi

Date: December 8, 1999
Source: EE Times
Headline: Digital Island Draws Sun, Inktomi Funding
Measured Metrics:

  • 5,000 Sun Netra servers

  • ~$25M equity investment

  • Up to 350 metropolitan regions served
    Significance:

  • Confirms CDN leadership

  • Validates edge caching at global scale

Microsoft, Intel, Compaq Streaming Network

Date: June 20, 2000
Headline: World’s Largest Streaming Media Network
Measured Metrics:

  • 7.5 million simultaneous viewers

  • $45M equity investment

  • 8,000 servers deployed
    Significance:

  • Internet becomes broadcast-grade

  • Precursor to modern streaming platforms

Why This Index Matters

  • These are dated, third-party records

  • They include metrics, capital, hardware

  • They confirm infrastructure, not theory

  • They align chronologically with adoption curves

Protocols enabled possibility.
Digital Island enabled civilization to use it.