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Marc Andreessen

It's hard to imagine life without the Internet. But it didn't spring into existence on its own. A whole lot of people made it happen.

The Internet Society just released its list of 2013 inductees to the Internet Hall of Fame, honoring a group of people that went above and beyond.

Three names jump out from this distinguished list: Marc Andreessen, who helped build the first widely used web browser and made the Internet easier to use; Richard Stallman, whose ideas about free software changed the software industry forever; and Aaron Swartz, whose tragically short life was still filled with big achievements.

We have to admit that we were a bit surprised that Andreessen and Stallman weren't already inducted.

Here's the full 2013 list from the Internet Society.

• David Clark: Significant contributions to early Internet protocols and architecture

• David Farber: Instrumental in developments of the early Internet; created the first operational Distributed Computer System

• Howard Frank: Co-wrote proposal that won contract to design network structure for the ARPAnet

• Kanchana Kanchanasut: Brought the Internet to Thailand

• J.C.R. Licklider (posthumous): Championed the vision of a world-wide computer network

• Bob Metcalfe: Led the invention, standardization, and commercialization of the Ethernet

• Jun Murai: Developed the first inter-university network in Japan and considered Father of the Internet in Japan

• Kees Neggers: Instrumental in the development of the Internet in the Netherlands

• Nii Quaynor: Pioneered Internet development and expansion throughout Africa

• Glenn Ricart: Set up the first Internet Exchange Point

• Robert Taylor: Leader in the development of modern computing technology and computer networks

• Steve Wolff: Developed first open computer network in the U.S. to support research and higher education

• Werner Zorn: Led team that created infrastructure to connect Germany to the Internet

• Karen Banks: Networking leader who used information and communications technologies and applications as tools for social change

• Gihan Dias: Instrumental in establishing the academic Internet and first email system in Sri Lanka

• Anriette Esterhuysen: Helped establish email and Internet connectivity in Southern Africa
  Steve Goldstein: Guided the connection of approximately 25 countries to NSFNET, including those in Europe, Latin America and east Asia.

• Teus Hagen: Initiated European Unix User Group and started EUnet

• Ida Holz: Instrumental in development of first networks that underpinned the Internet in Latin America

• Qiheng Hu: Led the NCFC project team to bring the Internet to mainland China

• Haruhisa Ishida (posthumous): Leader in introducing UNIX computing and internetworking to Japan

• Barry Leiner (posthumous): Envisioned and helped establish Internet Activities Board, which led the effort to set Internet technical standards

• George Sadowsky: Aided in deployment of information technology to more than 50 developing countries

• Marc Andreessen: Co-authored the first widely-used browser, Mosaic, and co-founded Netscape

• John Perry Barlow: Co-founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation

• Francois Flückiger: Convened meeting that led to Réseaux IP Européens (RIPE), and contributed to the creation of the pan-European Internet backbone

• Stephen Kent: A leader in the architecture of network security systems

• Anne-Marie Eklund Löwinder: Innovator in implementation of DNS Security Extensions technology and usage procedures

• Henning Schulzrinne: Co-developed protocols that are used by almost all Internet telephony and multimedia applications

• Richard Stallman: Founded the Free Software Foundation

• Aaron Swartz (posthumous): Co-authored version of RSS, co-owner of Reddit, and early architect of Creative Commons

• Jimmy Wales: Fueled the user collaboration and sharing trend as founder of Wikipedia