Govt Says: Internet Is Popular

michaeld writes "The U.S. Dept of Commerce reports that more than half of the nation is now online. In September 2001, 143 million Americans (54% of population) were using the Internet -- an increase of 26 million in thirteen months. 2 million more go online each month. Between August 2000 and September 2001, residential use of high-speed, broadband service doubled--from about 4 to 11 percent of all individuals, and from 11 to 20 percent of Internet users. ZDNet has commentary as does Reuters, while the government has the Full report."

Comments

1ST post - hmmm

[Bungee]

now what do i do...

Gore

[NiftyNews]

Let's hope that Gore comes back for Round 2, since we all know that you can't go very far without the inventor!

DEBUNKED - Al Gore "invented" Internet smear

[Seth Finkelstein]

Sigh, maybe it's time to burn a karma point or two. This may be mistaken to be flamebait, but hopefully the references below will redeem it.

The story that Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet has been thoroughly debunked by Phil Agre in http://commons.somewhere.com/rre/2000/RRE.Al.Gore. and.the.Inte.html and rebutted further later
That meme was a creation of Declan McCullagh, a "reporter" for Wired News who is politically a dogmatic Libertarian so extreme that he managed to get a book chapter using him as a poster-boy for Libertarian ideologues, and a different book chapter using him as Libertarian joke-fodder.

If you think this is flame-bait, the aspect of his fabricated story being a Liberatarian hit-piece on Al Gore was extensively discussed in a debunking by Salon

After Declan McCullagh was repeatedly taken to task for his hatchet-job, over more than year, by everyone who was there, from Dave Farberto Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf, Declan finally grudgingly retracted the "story"

But people still repeat it, because urban legends never die.

Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)

Re:DEBUNKED - Al Gore "invented" Internet smear

[Speare]

Yes, it's more accurate to quote, "Al Gore created the Internet" (not 'invented'). He helped to create the Internet as we know it through his legislative support in 1987 and later in 1994 bringing wide Internet awareness to the general non-technophile public in his national discussions about the Information Superhighway.

While I am glad to see someone setting the issue straight, or at least, less crooked, I cringe when someone resorts to ad hominem attacks to get their point across. This does no service to anybody.

You could have offered the links without the rhetoric, and it would have served just as well. Instead, you rant with emotional words, political slant and personal attacks.

• A "reporter", politically a dogmatic Libertarian so extreme, a poster-boy for Libertarian ideologues, Libertarian joke-fodder, a Libertarian hit-piece, his hatchet-job, grudgingly retracted.

If you can't make your point on the merits of the discussion (a misquote and misrepresentation that was reinforced through the press quoting the press), but instead focus on the ideology and politics of a person, then you're fanning the flames of intolerance and empty rhetoric.

So, yes, Seth Finkelstein, I'd say your post was flamebait.

Re:DEBUNKED - Al Gore "invented" Internet smear

[Seth Finkelstein]

An argument ad hominem is a logical fallacy. It attempts to deduce the truth of a statement from a personal characteristic. This is very often misunderstood to imply that a negative personal characteristic should never be mentioned in connection with a deliberate false statement.

No offense taken, but note what you've written is in fact much closer structurally to the true argument ad hominem. You've attempted to infer something about the truth of the statements from impolite aspects of them. That is, you've stated my some of my comments are "emotional words" or "political slant", etc. You haven't said they are false. Note the difference.

In fact, they are emotional, because I have very deep and complex associations here. It's a long story. But I'd defend what I wrote as accurate

Moreover, I would assert that a key part of the smear was that it was deliberate. It was not an innocent misquote. Declan McCullagh knows, e.g. Dave Farber. He (Declan) knows who he can ask for factual comments. Rather, the "story" was a deliberate fabrication, and Declan did his best to dismiss people who were "there" via published personal attacks.

Note the difference - Declan did not say that Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn were wrong, AND that the motive for their defense was that they were "Friends of Al". Rather, he dismissed what they said BECAUSE of that, which is classical ad hominem.

Consider the two propositions
1) Declan McCullagh wrote a false story
2) Declan McCullagh wrote the story because he's a Libertarian proselytizer

You are correct to note that #1 can be argued independently from #2. However, it would be incorrect to argue #1 is false because of #2 being argued. And #2 is relevant in itself, and should stand or fall on its own merits.

There really isn't a nice way to say someone wrote a political hatchet-job. But I'd say refusing to discuss that aspect does history a disservice.

Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)

Re:DEBUNKED - Al Gore "invented" Internet smear

[Reality Master 101]

All the rhetoric notwithstanding (you CAN make your point in fewer words, trust me), we only need to focus on this:

Declan McCullagh wrote the story because he's a Libertarian proselytizer

You offered no evidence that his motivation was based on political leanings. Therefore, the whole subject was irrelevent and done for your own purposes (a "hatchet job", one might say).