While enduring a conference call this morning, I was surfing on
Goggle under the search "Al Gore and the Internet" and came upon
this document (it was about 9 down).
I am deeply suspicious about their reasons for doing it, clearly
they are operating at the 8th (political) layer of the OSI model,
and I would bet 100 bucks who they voted for, but as propaganda
goes it's the very best. No advocate of the opposing position
should be without it. Nothing quite like an "Argument from
Authority."
I stand by my earlier analysis and opinion.
Brian D Williams
To: Nettime <nettime-l@bbs.thing.net>
Subject: <nettime> Al Gore and the Internet
From: "vinton g. cerf" <vcerf@MCI.NET>
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 13:57:28 +1000
Delivered-To: nettime-archive@nettime.khm.de
[Originally To: Declan McCullaugh <declan@well.com>,
farber@cis.upenn.edu
Cc: rkahn@cnri.reston.va.us]
Dave and Declan,
I am taking the liberty of sending to you both a brief summary of
Al Gore's Internet involvement, prepared by Bob Kahn and me. As you
know, there have been a seemingly unending series of jokes chiding
the vice president for his assertion that he "took the initiative
in creating the Internet."
Bob and I believe that the vice president deserves significant
credit for his early recognition of the importance of what has
become the Internet.
I thought you might find this short summary of sufficient interest
to share it with Politech and the IP lists, respectively.
==============================================================
Al Gore and the Internet
By Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf
Al Gore was the first political leader to recognize the importance
of the Internet and to promote and support its development.
No one person or even small group of persons exclusively "invented"
the Internet. It is the result of many years of ongoing
collaboration among people in government and the university
community. But as the two people who designed the basic
architecture and the core protocols that make the
Internet work, we would like to acknowledge VP Gore's contributions
as a Congressman, Senator and as Vice President. No other elected
official, to our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over a
longer period of time.
Last year the Vice President made a straightforward statement on
his role. He said: "During my service in the United States Congress
I took the initiative in creating the Internet." We don't think,
as some people have argued, that Gore intended to claim he
"invented" the Internet. Moreover, there is no question in our
minds that while serving as Senator, Gore's initiatives had a
significant and beneficial effect on the still-evolving
Internet. The fact of the matter is that Gore was talking about and
promoting the Internet long before most people were listening. We
feel it is timely to offer our perspective.
As far back as the 1970s Congressman Gore promoted the idea of high
speed telecommunications as an engine for both economic growth and
the improvement of our educational system. He was the first elected
official to grasp the potential of computer communications to have
a broader impact than just improving the conduct of science and
scholarship. Though easily forgotten, now, at the time this was an
unproven and controversial concept. Our work on the Internet
started in 1973 and was based on even earlier work that took place
in the mid-late 1960s. But the Internet, as we know it today, was
not deployed until 1983. When the Internet was still in the early
stages of its deployment, Congressman Gore provided intellectual
leadership by helping create the vision of the potential benefits
of high speed computing and communication. As an example, he
sponsored hearings on how advanced technologies might be put to use
in areas like coordinating the response of government agencies to
natural disasters and other crises.
As a Senator in the 1980s Gore urged government agencies to
consolidate what at the time were several dozen different and
unconnected networks into an "Interagency Network." Working in a
bi-partisan manner with officials in Ronald Reagan and George
Bush's administrations, Gore secured the passage of the High
Performance Computing and Communications Act in
1991. This "Gore Act" supported the National Research and
Education Network (NREN) initiative that became one of the major
vehicles for the spread of the Internet beyond the field of
computer science.
As Vice President Gore promoted building the Internet both up and
out, as well as releasing the Internet from the control of the
government agencies that spawned it. He served as the major
administration proponent for continued investment in advanced
computing and networking and private sector initiatives such as Net
Day. He was and is a strong proponent of extending access to the
network to schools and libraries. Today, approximately 95% of our
nation's schools are on the Internet. Gore provided much-needed
political support for the speedy privatization of the Internet when
the time arrived for it to become a commercially-driven operation.
There are many factors that have contributed to the Internet's
rapid growth since the later 1980s, not the least of which has been
political support for its privatization and continued support for
research in advanced networking technology. No one in public life
has been more intellectually engaged in helping to create the
climate for a thriving Internet than the Vice President. Gore has
been a clear champion of this effort, both in the councils of
government and with the public at large.
The Vice President deserves credit for his early recognition of the
value of high speed computing and communication and for his
long-term and consistent articulation of the potential value of the
Internet to American citizens and industry and, indeed, to the rest
of the world.
Version 1.2
Word count: 709
=================================================================
WorldCom
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Telephone (703) 886-1690
FAX (703) 886-0047
"INTERNET IS FOR EVERYONE!"
INET 2001: Internet Global Summit
5-8 June 2001
Sweden International Fairs
Stockholm, Sweden
http://www.isoc.org/inet2001
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