IP: A Cyberspat Makes History -- will all the Father's step forward especially if you were not there :-)

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

http://www.nytimes.com/library/review/102499internet-review.html

October 24, 1999
A Cyberspat Makes History

By KATIE HAFNER 


his month marks the 30th anniversary of the Arpanet, the Internet's predecessor. Then again, maybe it doesn't. 

The University of California at Los Angeles was ground zero for the Arpanet. Then again, maybe it wasn't. 

This anniversary of the Internet has been a particularly contentious one. Vice President Al Gore's misstatement to CNN 
last spring that he "took the initiative" in inventing the whole thing was roundly ridiculed by anyone with an inkling 
of the network's true origins. But in recent months, several more genuine contenders have stepped forward to stake a 
claim to this or that invaluable piece of the invention, giving rise to a number of public spats. 

As barbs fly and longstanding friendships disintegrate, figuring out just who did what when is more difficult than 
ever. 

I know about this problem at close range. In 1993, when I began researching a history of the Arpanet, the story seemed 
a relatively straightforward one. I scoffed when one of the Net's many fathers said to me one day: "Why are you even 
trying to write a history? No matter what you write, it won't be the real story." 

While that may be true of history in general, anyone who tries to write the real story of the Internet right now will 
encounter a welter of contradictory material. Now graying, the scientists who took part in building the Net are busier 
than they ever were, not inventing new technologies but telling their side of the story to reporters, putting up time 
lines and history pages on their Web sites and shooting off E-mail messages. The goal, of course, is not to get rich 
but to secure a spot in history.