What is the population of the Internet?

It’s an interesting question, and while it might sometimes seem like everyone and their dog has Internet access, according to a new report from IDC the actual figure is about 1.4 billion people around the world. The Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast suggests that something in the order of a quarter of the total population of the planet will use the Internet on a regular basis this year. Within four years IDC expects to see another half a billion people added to that number, bringing 30 percent of the global population online by 2012.