In spite of the Worldwide Network's usefulness it appears to be used mainly by Shinra Electric Power Company and is not freely accessible to the general public. This may be because the network is owned and operated by Shinra, who would likely not want the public to have access to a network where information is much more difficult to regulate and suppress (the suppression of information being one of Shinra's priorities). Although it would seem that Shinra does use the Worldwide Network for some civilian applications, like sending and receiving electronic messages via communications devices like cellphones.