Blog Post #2 - History of the Internet - Al Gore and the Internet

I wanted to find out the real story of Al Gore and the Internet. When you think about the history of the Internet this is not a traditional topic, but it is very interesting, and to my surprise the article I read, “Al Gore and the Creation of the Internet” by Richard Wiggins, gave an overview of the entire history of the Internet. So what exactly did Al Gore say? It has been repeated by politicians, comedians, and the press, over and over, that he said he invented the Internet. In an interview with Wolf Blitzer of Cable News Network, on March 9, 1999 during the ‘Late Edition’ show Gore actually said, “I took the initiative in creating the Internet.” He also said, “I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country’s economic growth and environmental protections, improvements in our educational system.” After reading the real quote and the article, it is clear that Vice President Gore was taken by surprise by the question and stumbled a little in his answer. He did not choose the best wording for what he was trying to express; that he was instrumental in promoting the development of the Internet through his understanding of its potential and through his proposal and support of necessary legislation.

The Internet Society hosts a written account called “A Brief History of the Internet,” http://www.isoc.org/internet-history/brief.html, authored by some of the designers of the Internet. According to the brief history a paper written in 1988 by Kahn et al., “Toward a National Research Network,” “was influential on then Senator Al Gore, and ushered in high speed networks that laid the networking foundation for the future information superhighway.”

On September 28, 2000, Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf, key persons in the development of the Internet, released a statement to several “key Internet mailing lists stating their unequivocal belief that Gore played an important role during his congressional years in supporting the Internet.” Below is the beginning of that statement.
"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.”

There is not a great difference between the words invent and create, but considering the context of the interview and Al Gore’s history with and interest in the Internet, Mr. Gore did have a key role in its development. It also seems he did not get a fair chance with the public, because as the author states “repetition becomes reality.”

So did Carl Sagan really say “billions and billions?”

Source:
Wiggins, Richard. "Al Gore and the Creation of the Internet." First Monday 5 (2000). 6 July 2006
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue5_10/wiggins/.
This is a very interesting article that discusses responsible journalism and reporting, political implications of “repetition becomes reality,” and provides Internet history and good sources for Internet history,