Tad Thorley

When I first heard that Al Gore claimed to have "invented the internet", I reacted the same way that most people probably did. I figured that it was another outrageous statement that politicians like to make where they claim more credit than they deserve for something they were marginally involved in. What he actually said was that he "took the initiative in creating the Internet", but that sounds just as bad.

However, I recently came across an interesting email by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn; two of the "fathers" of the internet. Here are a few things that they say about Al Gore:

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 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.

Sounds like he was a lot more involved than I ever realized. It's too bad that he's been chided so much for his statement when really did help create the internet (as we know it today).