IP: Al Gore's support of the Internet, by V.Cerf and B.Kahn [ I second this djf]

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

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 17:43:58 -0400
From: vinton g. cerf <vcerf () MCI NET>
To: Declan McCullaugh <declan () well com>, farber () cis upenn edu
Cc: rkahn () cnri reston va us
Subject: Al Gore and the Internet

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 t!
o !
!
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natu
ral 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.


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