The Virtual Net, dubbed simply, the Net, is the global spanning virtual reality network that took the place of the Internet in 2065. To put it in simple terms, the Net is a digitized realm that can be used for both data transactions, and wide spread social activities.
There are two ways in which users can use the Net. Like the internet of old, users can simply look through information and Net nodes through browsing software that can be held on their Smart Phones, or any other device with Net capabilities. The second is to 'jack in'.
Jacking In is to submerge ones self into the Virtual Reality landscapes that make up The Net. This is done with a simple implant that attaches to the brain stem of a User, thus giving them access to the digital realm.
The Digital Realm is a mapped, constructed, and refined world in its own right, one can travel, experience sensation, submerge themselves in music, the arts, sex, drugs, a live concert, anything they wish. With the ability to Jack In and start at any point on the Net they wish, one can visit exotic places across the globe, take entire vacations without leaving their home, or, if they so wish it (and can afford the medical side of it) can live their entire lives on the Net.
Computers have remained the constant for connecting the world, even as some nations close out both their physical, and Net borders to the outside world, there is still connection. So if one wishes to go, they can go, if the doors are closed, then all one needs to do is find someone that can knock them down.