History of the First Internet

U96 writes "Ever since the Gore claim to have "invented" the internet, its history has been the subject of misinformation and ridicule. The Institue of Internet History contains an accurate, in-depth examination of the early industrial origins of the internet. An interesting read..."

Comments

Slashdotted Already?

[Tiberius_Fel]

I don't seem to be able to load the link... it can't be slashdotted already, can it? :P

Re:Slashdotted Already?

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like their server is one of their exhibits.

Re:Slashdotted Already?

[gitana]

yep ... dead .. that was fast

Re:Slashdotted Already?

[killpog]

Nope... Firewalled, hehe.

Re:Slashdotted Already?

[SoSueMe]

I know it's probably not what the /.ed page was presenting, but it is something.
It has benn interesting to watch this over the years.

Re:Slashdotted Already?

[1u3hr]

I can get the first page on mirrordot.org, but teh rest of the links are to "http://mybento.dynalias.net/ioih/", whihc probbaly means somebody's home PC. SO forget about it for the next 24 hours.

And to compound the idiocy of linking to a dynamic host, what's with repeating the "Gore invented the Internet" bullshit -- he never said that, as has been discussed here ad nauseaum. (See Snopes)

"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[daniil]

If you say it three times it's true. Not.

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[Catbeller]

" If Al Gore didn't have a well-deserved reputation for firing off whoppers, this one wouldn't have stuck."

He had no such reputation. As the parent post's link points out, it was fabricated by the RNC and various eager writers in 2000.

Bush, however, has a long history of non-history. Which rarely has been questioned by those self-same eager boys. His arrest record. Drug use. Alchoholism until he was 40. Violent behavior. Horrfying academic record coupled with a well-documented sense of disdain towards university education. Dad's friends' influence in getting him into the champagne unit of the Texas Air National Guard. Failure to show up for duty. Refusing direct orders to report for a physical. Failure to be sent to Vietnam via the Army for refusing said order, which happened to other officers who did not obey orders. Failures of his "businesses". His involvement in the real estate deal in which land granted to build a baseball stadium was instead sold off to build profitable developments, giving him his first real money with which to run for governor. The utter fiscal disaster left in Texas after his tax cuts there. The collapse of the Texas school system, with his blessing. The funeral industry scandal that he involved himself in. The amazing elevation of a no-account dunderhead to governor and then President in less than five years. His daughters: the restauranteur who carded the twins was weeks later ruined by inspectors - business lost as retribution. The retribution against the man who outed the Bush's national guard record - his veterans benefits canceled as he dies from a viral infection caught in service. The vile accusations against McCain in 2000. the unbelieveable memetic attack against Gore in 2000. The Bush brothers control of the electoral process in Florida in 2000. The recount blockage. The fake "riot" in Dade county against election officials, rioters composed of RNC staffers. The shutdown of environmental laws. Of the Microsoft case. The unbelieveable failure to read critical material before 9-11 warning of the attack. the four-year campaign to block the investigation of such. The utilization of a sad, small attack by a couple of dozen fanatics to convince Americans they were at war with Iraq, Iran, Europe, and anyone who looked at us funny. The complete failure to capture the man who actually attacked us. The illegal imprisonment of anyone who looked useful in making the dope look competent in waging war. The flauting of the law in imprisonment and torture of anyone they felt like. Ignoring the Supreme Court in refusing a fair hearing to those tortured. The suppression of the torture news. The suppression of any news that they made inaccurate statement about "evidence" of Saddam Hussein's involvement in the 9-11 idiots' attack. The complete restructuring of the U.S. into a police state, ongoing. Refusing to answer questions put to him by the press. Declarations that the press was an "interest group", and as such, could be ignored or lied to. Creation of special civilian "intellence" filters that culled "facts" from the CIA biomass that the President could use to invade a non-combatant nation.The setup later to blame the CIA for the information they themselves filtered and massaged, and therefore take direct control of ALL intel agencies. War crimes against a non-hostile nation. Imprisonment of citizens of a non-hostile nation. Torture of citizens of a non-hostile nation. Coverup of same. Successful attempts, through RNC-sympathetic corporate board members at GE, Disney, Viacom and AOL-Time-Warner, to "Red State" or "Nascarize" the news operations of NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN, now ongoing as the Brokow, Jennings, and Rathers are being expunged simultaneously along with all non-right-wing thinkers. The current run-up to invade Iran. The destruction of Social Security by tax cuts. The future elimination of public education by the deaths of a thousand cuts to advance a religious and private school system. Censorship. State religion. The complete restructuring of the judiciary to a Chicago-

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[minus_273]

of course this is why at the presidential debate, when asked to mention a mistake he said "claiming i invented it internet". If the guy admits it, there is not much you can do to deny it.

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[nwbvt]

Ok, he said "I took the initiative in creating the Internet". Still an exaggeration if you ask me.

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[mp3phish]

Well Said.

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[jdreed1024]

Sorry, dude, Al Gore said: "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. "

Now, most intelligent people know he was talking about funding. But that quote is exactly what he said in an interview with Wolf Blitzer. Read the transcript here: http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/03/09/ president.2000/transcript.gore/index.html

Was the quote blown out of proportion? You bet. But Gore should have been clever and said "funding the Internet" or "creating the Internet community'" or anything like that.

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[Tteddo]

Thank you!!

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[fatphil]

Yes, he claimed to have /created/ the internet instead.

FP.

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[kd5ujz]

These are the same people that bitched about Kerry using "Big words" and being " hard to comprehend". They probaly understood: my,congress,created, and internet.

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[Tore S B]

I don't have time for a detailed reply, nor does your rant warrant one, but suffice it to say you are an idiot.

Spoken like a true neo-conservative.
NO, YOU MORON, it does NOT suffice. His long and most insightful post did.

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[RussP]

I was just thinking about his amazing litany of anti-Bush lies, and it occurred to me ... he's probably been listening to Dan Rather for years!

Just for the record, most if not all of these lies have been refuted over and over again. But some gullible people think they are true because they have been repeated over and over again.

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[Tore S B]

Yeah, those crazy lies like "bin Laden hasn't been found yet' and 'Iraq didn't have WMDs' Where do they come up with this stuff? Some of his stuff may have been inaccurate, but I don't care, an unjust war is bad enough for one prez.

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[Rayonic]

The truth of the matter is if even one of those allegations was provable, he would have been impeached long ago.

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[Canth7]

There are times when you can say that there are two sides of the coin and that what are considered lies and flip-flops are just misunderstandings and distortions created by the opposition. This is not the case with th Bush administration. Clearly, this president has flip-flopped far more than can be attributed to either Gore or Keri. To the Bush-lovers out there - I'd like to see someone refute this top ten list (with FACTS, not opinion and bluster, please): http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/28/politics /main646142.shtml

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[Canth7]

bah - the media doesn't even raise the questions and GWB wouldn't answer them if they did. The media in the US is pathetic. When did they question Bush about Iraq and his previous stance on not doing nation building?

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[Canth7]

ok, so CBS doesn't like linking to their stories - it redirects to their main news site. if you want to read the article just google for "top bush flip flops" - its the first hit.

Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet"

[Rayonic]

> So, which claims, specifcally, do you think are un-provable?

Strictly speaking? All of the above.

wow, irony

[nomadic]

Ever since the Gore claim to have "invented" the internet, its history has been the subject of misinformation and ridicule.

Considering Gore never claimed to have invented the internet, you've actually managed to include misinformation in a sentence criticizing misinformation. Well done.

Re:wow, irony

[brucifer]

So let me get this straight: We can make fun of all the misspeaking that Dubya does, but we can't mock Gore for saying "I took the initiative in creating the Internet."? Come on, enough of this partisan hackery (thank you John Stewart), lets spread the humor at the expense of politicians around on both sides of the fence.

Re:wow, irony

[double-oh three]

Except for the fact that for Gore this was a one-time statement that was actually true, or as close to true as you get with politicians. Dubya's misspeaks are actually funny, and besides, Gore is pretty much out of the public life now.

Re:wow, irony

[sam_handelman]

"I took the initiative in creating the Internet." (1)

!=

"I invented the internet." (2)

Statement 2 is entirely incorrect, and Gore did not say it!

Statement 1 is essentially correct - the internet was created by legislation, and Gore was instrumental in getting that legislation passed.

Re:wow, irony

[sam_handelman]

It isn't bullshit, it's entirely factually correct. Gore was taking credit, as a legislator, for creating the internet. Credit which he deserved.

http://www.issues2000.org/askme/internet.htm

Re:wow, irony

[jlapier]

this is slashdot - you guys forget to take your sarcasmo meds today?

Ever since the Gore claim to have "invented" the internet

Notice the quotes around "invented" - the poster quite obviously knows what we all have known for a long time, and you're not all smarter for jumping on him....

Re:wow, irony

[nomadic]

Uh, no. In that case the quotes would be around "claim" in order for it to indicate the poster knew Gore really didn't claim that.

Re:wow, irony

[Mr. Slippery]

We can make fun of all the misspeaking that Dubya does, but we can't mock Gore for saying "I took the initiative in creating the Internet."?

In context, Gore's words were quite accurate. Just as we say that Bush II invaded Iraq even though he's not out there with a rifle, or we say that "Eisenhower created the Interstate system" even though he wasn't out there with a bulldozer.

So, no, you shouldn't distort an accurate statement and then mock the distorted version. Especially where there's so much else about Gore worthy of being mocked. I'm all for mocking politicians, just keep it accurate.

Re:wow, irony

[Minna Kirai]

We can make fun of all the misspeaking that Dubya does, but we can't mock Gore for saying "I took the initiative in creating the Internet."?

Mock that if you must. But inserting "invented" in place of "took the initiative in creating" completely changes the meaning.

People keep misquoting it with "invent" because that makes it funnier- because stupidity is funny, whether or not it's true.

Re:wow, irony

[brucifer]

Looks like you were right, you made a joke about slashdot's "blue" nature and were modded as a Troll. Too funny.

Re:wow, irony

[Tablizer]

He meant he appropriated money to fund the creation of the Internet. But, it did not come out of his mouth with quite the same meaning. W obviously has the same problem. I wonder if they are all freudian mistakes, manipulative soundbyte politics, just being tired or dumb, or a combo.

If we cross-bread W and Gore, we get:

"I took the initiative in creating the strategery for the Internet, and then used it to find top Al Queda leaders in Iraq under Hussien carrying yellow-cake for making nukAlar weapons."

Re:wow, irony

[SMITHEE]

Politicians from every party are constantly making misleading statements which are carefully crafted to be true in some sense. In reality, they hope and expect that the statement will be taken in an extreme, and untrue, way by many gullible voters, but in case the statement is parsed carefully it can be defended to some degree. When Republicans do this, the late night comedians frequently exaggerate the statement way beyond what the politician ever imagined in order to subject him to ridicule. All that happened here is that a Democrat finally got the same treatment that the Republicans have often gotten.

And listen to the howls of indignation.

Re:wow, irony

[crimson30]

Statement 1 is essentially correct - the internet was created by legislation, and Gore was instrumental in getting that legislation passed.

Politics and funding were instrumental in the Manhatten Project, too. Does that mean Truman created the atomic bomb?

If Bill Gates formed a team to create a tool from the ground up, would he be correct in saying he created the tool, despite not coding a line?

It's a semantic game, but the reality is Gore did NOT create the Internet. He may have helped it along, or created momentum, or created legislation or done or created any number of related things. But he was not part of the creative process. He did not... create *the Internet*.

Re:wow, irony

[finkployd]

Especially where there's so much else about Gore worthy of being mocked.

Someone forgot who was the most stringent supporter of the Clipper chip and the plan to outlaw any private research or developement into cryptography. Someone who supported a plan that would have made it illegal for US citizens to take steps to keep communication private if the US government couldn't read it. Someone who by supporting this could have destroyed the computer industry in the US completely.

Gore was no friend of the tech industry, he was nearly the worst enemy it ever had. And for a real slice of irony, guess which congressmen opposed the clipper initiative on the grounds that US citisens must be free from government intrusion and should have privacy? John fucking Ashcroft. How screwed up is that? What a massive change he went though.

Finkployd

Re:wow, irony

[Tore S B]

Politics and funding were instrumental in the Manhatten Project, too. Does that mean Truman created the atomic bomb?

No, but he or another politician took the initiative for it, and would be correct in stating so.

If Bill Gates formed a team to create a tool from the ground up, would he be correct in saying he created the tool, despite not coding a line?Again, he would be correct in stating that he had taken the initiative to do so.

It's a semantic game, but the reality is Gore did NOT create the Internet.

I HAVE HAD GOLDFISH WITH MORE BRAINS THAN YOU. He never, ever, ever claimed to have created it. He correctly stated that he took the initiative to do so, however.

Re:wow, irony

[sam_handelman]

No, but Roosevelt did "Take the Initiative in creating" the atomic bomb, on Einsteins advice.

Look, if a Senator drafts legislation that provides funding for road work in his precinct, he will (justifiably) say "I fixed the roads in the great State of Montana!"

Did the Senator get in a piece of earth moving equipment and do road work? Obviously not. But no one jumps on him and calls him a liar.

The thing which we call "the Internet", defined by its use by civilians, exists because of the legislation, introduced by Gore, that funded it. You can say it was already created at that point, and I ridicule that assertion - this happened in *1989* - it was in the process of being created, and DARPA had defunded it. Gore "took the initiative", and introduced legislation that allowed others to finish creating the Internet.

He didn't use the verb create - he used the present progressive "creating".

If Gates were to say "I took the initiative in adding XXX feature to Internet Explorer" - the fact that he does none of the work himself makes no difference. The *initiative* is still his.

Re:wow, irony

[evilquaker]

In context, Gore's words were quite accurate.

No, they were self-aggrandizing and over-reaching. He did not take the initiative in creating the internet. He took the initiative to encourage and foster (through legislation and funding) an environment where other people could create what would eventually become the internet. But that doesn't sound nearly as impressive, which is why he didn't say it that way.

Just as we say that Bush II invaded Iraq even though he's not out there with a rifle, or we say that "Eisenhower created the Interstate system" even though he wasn't out there with a bulldozer.

I don't think your analogies are accurate at all. I think both Bush and Eisenhower could understand what they were proposing and had a vision for what the end result would be. I don't think that Gore had such a vision. I seriously doubt that he could have forseen the WWW (remember, he made this statement in 2000) in the 70's and early 80's. So he didn't do something that was equivalent to Bush's invasion of Iraq or Eisenhower's creation of the interstate system.

I think a better analogy would be the following:

Richard Stallman states: "During my time at MIT, I took the initiative in creating Linux.".

It's as true as Gore's statement: without Gore, the internet wouldn't be the same as it is today, and without Stallman and GNU, Linux wouldn't be where it is today. But do you think that Stallman "took the initiative" in creating Linux? No, he took the initiative in creating GNU, which laid the groundwork for other people to create Linux, just like Gore helped provide the funding for other people to lay the groundwork for still other people to create the internet (read: WWW).

So, no, you shouldn't distort an accurate statement and then mock the distorted version. Especially where there's so much else about Gore worthy of being mocked. I'm all for mocking politicians, just keep it accurate.

Don't fret this. It's karmic justice, just like mocking Dan Quayle about the "potato[e]" incident.

Re:wow, irony

[crimson30]

I HAVE HAD GOLDFISH WITH MORE BRAINS THAN YOU.

Your statement is incorrect, sir.

And with it being all caps, I had to put this sentence in to bypass the lameness filter!

Re:wow, irony

[Tore S B]

Your statement is incorrect, sir.

Allright, you caught my bluff. I've never had a goldfish.

Re:wow, irony

[crimson30]

I guess I didn't formulate my argument very well and after some thought, you caught me on it. I suppose the taking "initiative in creating" could be interpreted in more than one way.

Though, with some thought, I figured out what really bugs me about Gore's statement. Whereas Truman wouldn't sound too ridiculous in saying he took the initiative in creating the atomic bomb, Gore does sound silly saying he took the initiative in creating the Internet. Why?

Going back to the Truman example, the Manhatten Project comes across as an operation that obviously and directly brought the atomic bomb into immediate being and Truman's role was clearly quite distinct. He made it happen. Gore, on the other hand, didn't play a clear role in the creation of the Internet as it was already created, as far as I can tell. The Internet as we know it? Maybe. But that's not how his statement comes across.

One might argue that the atomic bomb had much momentum and was destined for creation as well, but the Manhatten Project was a clear, concerted effort with distinct players which led to the unfolding of Trinity and beyond. For these reasons, I believe it's really a poor example of a parallel, now that I really think about it.

Re:wow, irony

[Cplus]

That's basically the same list that got emailed around as Bushism as well. I think we all have to admit, Quayle took the cake in this department.

Note that Gore did say the last one, which I quite like, as well as:

"No matter how hard the loss, defeat might serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out."
-- Al Gore

"When you have the facts on your side, argue the facts. When you have the law on your side, argue the law. When you have neither, holler."
-- Al Gore

Just a Canadian with access to google.

Re:wow, irony

[famebait]

"I made the start in creating the Internet"

create
To produce

invent
To produce

"I made the start in inventing the Internet"


Jesus fuck, I know the IQ of the slashdot readership has been going down, but this is just ridiculous. Here's a hint for you AC, straight out of Logic For Not-Particularly-Gifted Second Graders:

Previous poster: "So, yes, Gore DID claim to invent the internet."

Gore -> human

Previous Poster -> human

Remove the uneccessary attribution and we get:
"So yes, the previous poster DID claim to invent the internet".

Wow, that's awesome; now I can prove anything!

Re:wow, irony

[sam_handelman]

There was a clear, concerted effort to connect together a group of civilian computers into an international network - it was funded by Gore's bill. As far as I'm concerned, that *created* the internet - a tiny fraction of this work was done before Gore's bill, essentially a proof of principle. Gore didn't take the intitiative in developing the underlying technology to run the internet, but as far as creating the actual internet, the internetwork of non-military computers, Gore took the initiative.

Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt!

Truman took the iniative in *dropping* the Bomb. The Manhattan project happened when he was vice president, and according to what I've read (possibly apocryphal) Truman didn't even know about the Manhanttan project when Roosevelt died! Truman did not build the Bomb.

Re:wow, irony

[IncohereD]

the internet (read: WWW).

I agree with most of what you say, but please please please do not equate the internet with the web. It doesn't even jive with the rest of your argument.

Re:wow, irony

[CaptainAvatar]

I seriously doubt that he could have forseen the WWW (remember, he made this statement in 2000) in the 70's and early 80's.

Why would he need to? I was using the Internet before the web came along, and I could see back them that things like email, ftp and gopher (!) were really useful things for scientists especially, but for business also. There's no reason why Gore couldn't have promoted the development of the Internet on the basis of such applications and their utility for science and business.

Re:wow, irony

[maysonl]

From TFA in grandparent:

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.

(And if you don't recognize the names, do your own bleeping Googlery).

Speaking of misinformation...

[swordgeek]

Al Gore NEVER CLAIMED TO HAVE INVENTED THE INTERNET!!!

NEVER!

NOT ONCE!

He did claim to have pushed for financing of it, which led to the development of it beyond its original boundaries. This is actually true! But he never claimed to have invented the internet.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[bigtallmofo]

I strongly disagree with what you say:

Resources

Quote:

"But it will emerge from my dialogue with the American people. I've traveled to every part of this country during the last six years. During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[ThisNukes4u]

link
He may not have meant for it to come out like he invented the Internet, but it sure sounds like it:

Why should Democrats, looking at the Democratic nomination process, support you instead of Bill Bradley, a friend of yours, a former colleague in the Senate? What do you have to bring to this that he doesn't necessarily bring to this process?

GORE: Well, I will be offering -- I'll be offering my vision when my campaign begins. And it will be comprehensive and sweeping. And I hope that it will be compelling enough to draw people toward it. I feel that it will be.

But it will emerge from my dialogue with the American people. I've traveled to every part of this country during the last six years. During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. 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 protection, improvements in our educational system.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[gad_zuki!]

Wow, Americans must be politically astute people to nitpick over the phrasing of a failed presidential candidate!

Please explain some of the following also:

How the United States should react if Iraq acquired WMD. "The first line of defense...should be a clear and classical statement of deterrence--if they do acquire WMD, their weapons will be unusable because any attempt to use them will bring national obliteration." Condoleeza Rice, US National Security Advisor
January/February 2000 issue of Foreign Affairs
2/1/2000
We are greatly concerned about any possible linkup between terrorists and regimes that have or seek weapons of mass destruction...In the case of Saddam Hussein, we've got a dictator who is clearly pursuing and already possesses some of these weapons.. A regime that hates America and everything we stand for must never be permitted to threaten America with weapons of mass destruction. Dick Cheney, Vice President
Detroit, Fund-Raiser
6/20/2002
Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. Dick Cheney, Vice President
Speech to VFW National Convention
8/26/2002
There is already a mountain of evidence that Saddam Hussein is gathering weapons for the purpose of using them. And adding additional information is like adding a foot to Mount Everest. Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
Response to Question From Press
9/6/2002
We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud Condoleeza Rice, US National Security Advisor
CNN Late Edition
9/8/2002
Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons. George W. Bush, President
Speech to UN General Assembly
9/12/2002
Iraq has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those weapons. We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have George W. Bush, President
Radio Address
10/5/2002
The Iraqi regime . . . possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas. George W. Bush, President
Cincinnati, Ohio Speech
10/7/2002
And surveillance photos reveal that the regime is rebuilding facilities that it had used to produce chemical and biological weapons. George W. Bush, President
Cincinnati, Ohio Speech
10/7/2002

Thanks for your time patriot! Because people are dying in Iraq and I want to know why.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[EvilFrog]

What Gore said was poorly worded, but true.

If Gore hadn't pushed for funding of the National Science Foundation to create nsfnet, the Internet wouldn't exist in the manner it is today.

Just change "took the initiative in creating the internet" with "ran the initiative to fund the creation of the internet" and you have a sentence that means the exact same thing yet can't be misinterpreted.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[Anonymous Coward]

Which is true, he did! He took the iniative in opening arpanet to form the public internet. There is no misinformation there! He is the Senator who sponsored the bill, so he gets the credit, that be how it works, ja?

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[MarkedMan]

But of course, analysis by sarcasm aside, Gore did take the initiative in creating the Internet. He was the one who proposed funding for it, he submitted the bill, he fought for it, he went around the country educating people on it, he worked closely with the technologists, he helped to get the Pentagon to agree (crucially important for historical reasons, since the internet backbone was built on a previously existing Defense network).

So, in fact, Gore did take the lead in CREATING the Internet. He absolutely never claimed to have INVENTED the internet, which would imply some kind of technology effort.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[ThisNukes4u]

To reply to everyone who replied to me, I was not implying that I believed that he did invent the Internet, just saying that it does appear that he says that, and how it could be construed to sound like he did.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[hazem]

Wow, Americans must be politically astute people to nitpick over the phrasing of a failed presidential candidate!

No... sadly, we're just political asses... that toot a lot. It's a common misconception.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[Jeremi]

He may not have meant for it to come out like he invented the Internet, but it sure sounds like it

And that's close enough for a good smear campaign, isn't it?

If you ever wonder why politicians so often sound like robots when they are speaking in public, this is why: because they have to constantly watch every single word they utter, to make sure that nothing they say (and no subset of anything they say) can be taken out of context and twisted against them. So instead of just speaking their position, they have to run this expensive (O(N^2)) political-defense algorithm on everything they say -- and since very few people can run that algorithm in real time, most politicians end up just repeating a few pre-vetted canned phrases over and over again.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[mikael]

During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

Except that the Internet was already growing at this time with many Mom and Pop ISP's, and that Al Gore's legislation seemed only to be designed to give control of the Internet to four major national companies.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[Scrameustache]

"I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

How can people read that sentence and see the word "invented"?
If it hadn't been for his policies, the internets would still be mostly military constructs. He made it public, good job Al.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[Brandybuck]

ore was not involved in any manner with the *creation* of the internet. It already existed by the time he got around to it. Please read the freaking story.

And stop acting like this is religious heresy or something.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[Phleg]

To be fair, I do believe the quote is taken out of context. However, if he had said, "I took the initiative during the creation of the Internet," things would be a little clearer. If I said "I took the initiative in creating a program to...", it would easily be understood that I felt that I started the project and saw it through. On the other hand, "I took the initiative during the creation of a program to..." is more easily interpreted as playing a crucial part in an overall effort.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[westlake]

Except that the Internet was already growing at this time with many Mom and Pop ISP's, and that Al Gore's legislation seemed only to be designed to give control of the Internet to four major national companies.

Growing at what rate and at what level of service?
The Mom & Pop ISPs here were never more than barely visible alteratives to dial-up AOL.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[YankeeInExile]

What this guy says

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[Minna Kirai]

We can make fun of all the misspeaking that Dubya does, but we can't mock Gore for saying "I took the initiative in creating the Internet."?

Wrong. At that time, there were internets, such as ARPANET. Today, there is "The Internet"- a single network that exists partly because Al Gore fought for it. (Back then, he called it The Information Superhighway, because "Internet" was a little ambiguous)

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[tverbeek]

Gee, I don't remember that many mom-and-pop ISPs in the early-to-mid 1980s, just a smattering of BBSes on Fidonet and a few commercial services like CompuServe and The Source... which couldn't even route e-mail to/from the internet. In fact, the whole notion of commercial usage for the internet was still pretty controversial in the period of time we're talking about. Methinks you're confusing this with the 1990s, which was the decade Gore spent either in (or running for) the executive branch.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[arodland]

Only if you decide not to pay attention to any of the context, such as the next sentence about "moving forward a whole range of initiatives"... My criticism of this sentence wouldn't be the standard one, it would be that he said he took the initiative in moving initiatives. That's a little too dense.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[Brandybuck]

What a load of crap! There are still "internets" today, only they're called "intranets". ARPANET was the internet, and no amount of semantic wordplay by Gore apologists can change that. It was a network that linked nearly every university in the US, and several non-US universities. The government and several commercial companies were a part of it.

The Internet today may be a few magnitudes larger in size, but ARPANET was the acorn from which the tree grew. Don't tell me I don't know, because I was there! Gore may have encouraged its adoption but sure as fuck wasn't involved in its creation.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[Sean Johnson]

Yeah, but it's fun to pretend that he DID say that so we can all have something to make stupid jokes about and laugh and have a good time about.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[winwar]

"What Gore said was poorly worded, but true."

Bullsh$t! He didn't create anything but a piece of legislation.

"If Gore hadn't pushed for funding of the National Science Foundation to create nsfnet, the Internet wouldn't exist in the manner it is today."

And you know this how?

"Just change "took the initiative in creating the internet" with "ran the initiative to fund the creation of the internet" and you have a sentence that means the exact same thing yet can't be misinterpreted."

No, it doesn't mean the same thing. The first one says he did it (or at least implies he did) - you know, invent the protocols, install the hardware, etc. The second one states his role accurately. Of course, it doesn't sound nearly as impressive to "joe sixpack". Sure, he PROBABLY meant the second when he stated the first but as he was a seasoned politician running for president, I strongly suspect he wanted it to be misinterpreted (although in a POSITIVE way).

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[fatphil]

"What Gore said was poorly worded,..."

Which is why those of us who know he didn't "invent" the internet still criticise his actual wording.

"... but true."

Not far from the truth, but not actually true. He was important in promoting the early development of the internet. No-one (sane) disputes that. That's still not actaully being the one doing the creating.

FP.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[ScrewMaster]

Shut up, Butthead.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[Jim_Callahan]

The main reason we put these fellows in charge of running things is that they're supposed to be capable administrators.

One of the main things that makes a capable administrator is being able to communicate information clearly to investors (us) and underlings (government officials).


I submit that if he presented his claims in a way that would be easily misinterpreted, it's a failure of his communication skill, and that makes him a bit too incompetent for the position he was seeking, eh?

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[moofdaddy]

If he had stated that he took the inititiative in creating the legislation that funded the creation of the internet and that was twisted, I would agree with you. But he didn't.

Actually he did say that he took the initiative. He never used the word invented. Thanks for playing.

Re:Speaking of misinformation...

[moofdaddy]

No. It is because they don't want to offend anyone, it works, AND they don't want to add any ammo to their opponents. Most legislators have records that can be easily twisted anyway....

Also, speaking as someone who works in politics for a living, I can say that you adn the parent are wrong. The reason politicans sound so canned and alre found always repeating the same thing is because they are trying to get out their message. The message of a campaign is very carefully crafted by professionals who believe that their message is the best way to appeal to voters. They aren't trying to avoid offending others, they are trying to get you to remember what they have to say through repetition.

Poor Al

[bigtallmofo]

First the 2000 election was stolen from him, now the vast right-wing conspiracy is attempting to defrock him of his Internet-Inventor title.

When will Republicans stop picking on this man?

Re:Poor Al

[Anonymous Coward]

Whoever modded this as insightful, please go play in traffic, and may god have mercy on your soul.

Re:Poor Al

[stienman]

When will Republicans stop picking on this man?

Pick one:
When he becomes Republican.
When he stops running for public, private, or any other office.
When he actually stops doing things that can easily be picked on in a 2 second sound bite.
When the Democrats finally give up.
When Mrs. Clinton comes into the spotlight (along with the next Mr. Lewinsky) (Zing!)

-Adam

What claim?

[gabe]

Al Gore did NOT claim he invented the internet.

Re:What claim?

[delibes]

Thank you for the transcript link. I think I can see how the words:

"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

could be taken out of context. I mean, it has the participle 'creating' which is conceptually similar to 'inventing' in my mind. He could have said "ensuring that the development of the Internet had the funding it deserved", but that's not so snappy.

I think it's just the way things are that there's a tendency towards ambiguous statements in politics. That way, if you fsck up you can always try and claim you meant something else.

Re:What claim?

[hazem]

So taking "the initiative in creating" something isn't inventing it? Am I unreasonable in thinking otherwise?

If he were an inventor, that could make sense. But, he was a lawmaker, and he was referencing his work in the congress.

If Reagan had said, "I took the initiative in creating the Star Wars Missile Defense System", would you first assume that he was working in a lab, designing high-energy lasers? Or would you go with the more rational assumption that he provided some leadership in getting it done?

The problem is that we Americans are pretty much dumb, reactionary, rather uneducated. We approach a situation already with the answer we want and grasp onto "evidence" that supports it.

Here, non-Gore supporters don't like Gore and hear someone say he claimed to invent the internet. Hearing the whole statement in context, it's difficult to rationally come to the assumption that Al was slaving away in his basement inventing routers, network cards, fiber optics, and cat-5.

We'd rather be intellectually dishonest than concede a nifty soundbite that makes us sound so smart, clever, and in tune.

Re:What claim?

[Queer Boy]

So taking "the initiative in creating" something isn't inventing it? Am I unreasonable in thinking otherwise?

Pretty much, yeah. If I create a piece of art, I didn't invent art, or even that form of art. If I create a new television show, I didn't invent TV or even TV shows.

They're not similes.

Re:What claim?

[Brandybuck]

So taking "the initiative in creating" something isn't inventing it? Am I unreasonable in thinking otherwise?

You are being unreasonable. In most situations, "creating" is indeed synonymous with "inventing"! I've seen non-technical marketroids at work attempt to get their name on a patent simply because they "took the initiative in creating" the project that came up with the invention.

Re:What claim?

[Scrameustache]

Yeah... well.. snopes... what do you expect.
Putting a true/false/unknown on things that can only really be determined to a certain order of accuracy is bound to be riddled with innaccuracies and half truths.

But this claim, the claim that Al Gore said "I invented the internet", is simple to determine. You look at the transcript of when he's supposed to have sid it, you see it's not what he said, done.

Re:What claim?

[Prophetic_Truth]

I have a love/hate feeling for slashdot these days, this isn't my first uid. Here we have a story about the First Internet which unfortunatly mentions Al Gore. Now instead of discussing the technical aspects OF THE FIRST INTERNET, we discuss politics, like I cant go discuss politics somewhere else..I need a new nerd haven, plz slashdot, kill the politics or it will kill you.

Re:What claim?

[hazem]

Let's try this... it's an example that is much less politically charged today.

From the Wikipedia article on the Sistene Chapel:
"Michelangelo Buonarroti was commissioned by Pope Julius II della Rovere in 1508 to repaint the ceiling, originally representing golden stars on a blue sky; the work was completed between 1508 and November 1, 1512."

Clearly, Michealangelo "created" the paintings on the ceiling. But Pope Julius the II would not have been wrong to say, "I took the initiative in creating the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel." And even if he did say that, nobody would be believe that he was the one doing the painting.

Re:What claim?

[rsheridan6]

When a politician claims to have taken "the initiative in creating" something, a reasonable person would assume he means he allocated funding for it. Only a fucktard or a dishonest, politically motivated liar would claim otherwise.

Re:What claim?

[winwar]

"But Pope Julius the II would not have been wrong to say, "I took the initiative in creating the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.""

Well, maybe not wrong. But it is not a "good" phrase, unless you are TRYING to confuse people. It would be more accurate (and informative) to say "I commissioned the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel".

"And even if he did say that, nobody would be believe that he was the one doing the painting."

Yes. And no one believed Gore either. But many believed he WAS trying to take credit for something he didn't do and reacted accordingly....

Re:What claim?

[winwar]

"When a politician claims to have taken "the initiative in creating" something, a reasonable person would assume he means he allocated funding for it."

Why? Politicians are incapable of being inventors? There are no scientists who are also politicians?

When a politician takes credit for something, I don't assume it is merely funding. Legislation does things other than funding!

Personally, when they take credit for something, I assume they are likely exaggerating their accomplishments. Hell, maybe they actually believe it. In any case, for the most part, I tune that out and lose respect (after all, how many take credit when their legislation goes bad....that I would respect).

Re:What claim?

[Brandybuck]

The Pope/Michelangelo analogy falls flat on its face because Al Gore simply was not involved in any manner with the creation of the internet. A better analogy would be if Pope Leo X (Julius' successor) claimed he took initiative in painting the ceiling.

You see, while Al Gore certainly should be credited with lots of things, he simply wasn't around at the beginning of the internet. He didn't get to the senate until 1977. According to the internet histories, it was already present at the time in the form of the ARPANET.

Al Gore didn't have anything to do with the creation of the internet any more than Pope Leo X had in the painting the Sistine Chapel.

Re:What claim?

[Rayonic]

The problem is that we Americans are pretty much dumb, reactionary, rather uneducated. We approach a situation already with the answer we want and grasp onto "evidence" that supports it.

So we're just like everyone else on the planet, then.

Don't forget

[dextromulous]

Gore has ridden the mighty moon worm.

Re:Don't forget

[sg3000]

> What is the mighty moon worm?

Al Gore did a guest spot in an episode of Futurama called "Crimes of the Hot". In the episode, when Al Gore (as a head a the jar) is introduced to speak about Global Warming, he announces himself by saying, "I have ridden the mighty moon worm!"

Al Gore's daughter Kristin Gore was a writer for Futurama, so he was on the show a couple of times.

Re:Don't forget

[sconeu]

Don't forget Al Gore and his Action Rangers in one of the Anthology of Interest episodes!

Al Gore's Internet

[jea6]

Claim: Vice-President Al Gore claimed that he "invented" the Internet.

Status: False.

Origins: No, Al Gore did not claim he "invented" the Internet, nor did he say anything that could reasonably be interpreted that way. The derisive "Al Gore said he 'invented' the Internet" put-downs are misleading distortions of something he said (taken out of context) during an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "Late Edition" program on 9 March 1999. When asked to describe what distinguished him from his challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey, Gore replied (in part):

During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. 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 protection, improvements in our educational system.

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.htm

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[spickus]

" During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

Nope, he didn't claim he invented the internet.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[LnxAddct]

"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

How else exactly would you interpret that? I doubt this fool even knows what TCP/IP is. The claims that he made or were implying is just ridiculous and the man really thinks he had something to do with the internet.
Regards,
Steve

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[jbash]

How is the parent post flamebait? I wish I could choose what to meda-moderate.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[Anonymous Coward]

Did he say he "took the initiative in creating the Internet"? Yes.

Which is true, he did play a part -- as a legislator. He tried to get some kudos for not being technically retarded (like most of the ppl he works with, I'd wager) and being one of the first to recognize the value of the internet to society (and doing something about it), but said it in a poorly worded way that made it sound like he was making a crazy claim.

But what he claimed was literally correct, he just never claimed to have invented the internet, which is the malicous smear tactic part of it.

That's the saddest part, he deserves some kudos for the internet, but most people "know" that he tried to steal credit over something he "obviously" didn't do.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[cyberon22]

The quote comes from an interview, not a prepared speech. That it is already *that* qualified suggests that Gore was being very careful to avoid overstating his contribution, and restrict them to the public policy domain.

Like or dislike the man for whatever reasons you want. But arguing that he claimed to invent the Internet is silly.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[iggymanz]

I think Al Gore is a weirdo. Nevertheless he was speaking from a legislative perspective, not an engineering one: he sponsored two bills and government action that altered the arpanet into what we call the internet.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[hazem]

How else exactly would you interpret that?

Ummm... that he was a lawmaker, talking about his record, and among the things he worked on was getting support for creating the internet.

You have to either be intellectually dishonest, or dumb as a bag of hammers to assume he was inventing the internet.

Let's look at a hypothetical example. It's an example that may not have a basis in fact, but exhibits certain constraints that permit analysis, and possibly the finding of a solution.

Let's suppose I am the mayor of your town, and the streets in the town are very dirty. There's no city program for cleaning the streets. So, as mayor, I lobby the city council, dedicate resources, hire staff, and invest in street cleaning equipment.... all of this is dedicated to getting the streets clean. So, a year later, the streets are really clean, and I'm running for reelection. And I state in an interview, "During my service as your mayor, I took the initiative in cleaning the city streets."

Now... would you be a dufus and assume that statement meant I single-handedly went out and cleaned the streets? Or would you use some of your brainpower and figure out that I meant that I took the initiative in getting the streets cleaned.

Hell, I didn't like Gore, and I didn't vote for him. But it makes us all dumber when we cling to insipid arguments like, "he claimed he invented the internet".

It's the same idiocy with people saying Bush is stupid. Clearly, he's smart enough to get through grad school (even with a C average), be the governor of a large state, and become the president of the US. Not being able to speak elloquently does not make him stupid. On the other hand, I also believe he's been one of the most harmful presidents in recent history.

It's sad that we Americans have lowered the political discourse to "he claims he invented the internet", and "he's dumb". Really, it just makes us all dumber.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[YankeeInExile]

This guy said it best

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[YankeeInExile]

I've put a few links to this posting around this thread, because I think it is the best metaphor for explaining the context of Gore's quote.

If there were a Best Of Slashdot, this comment would get my nomination.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[winwar]

"You have to either be intellectually dishonest, or dumb as a bag of hammers to assume he was inventing the internet."

I don't think anyone assumed that (at least I hope not...) That was his problem. I assumed (or supected) he was exaggerating his accomplishments(aka lying). I see no reason to reward this. Although I understand why he did it.

And in you mayor example, I would have the same reaction "What an f'ing idiot". He didn't clean squat, he merely hired more people to clean the streets, why didn't he say so. Look, many people would like their politicians to tell the truth, I am one of them (many more say they do but their actions say otherwise).

Why couldn't Gore have said "I pushed through the legislation that funded the internet" or "I helped fund the startup of the internet" if you want a shorter quote. It would have been true. And if misquoted, he would have had a case....

Gore was misquoted. But I suspect he wanted to be-he wanted his accomplishments to be seen as more impressive than they were. But he got burned. I think this is a good thing. I just wish it would happen more often.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[winwar]

Maybe.

Yeah, it is silly to argue about it.

But it goes to a deeper problem. Gore lied. Or at least didn't tell the truth. He exaggerated for political gain (didn't work in this case...) He became the poster boy for this type of thing.

I only wish other statements by other politicians, employers, employees, and people in general were held to the same standard. The world would be a better place if lying and exaggerating were "punished" in this way.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[hazem]

You raise some good points. I guess in this case I'm not ready to attribute the misquote on malice and I'm willing to cut him a little slack.

It's not a very clearly worded way of stating his role. If he had made campaign posters with this quote, or he had repeated it in his speeches, that would definitely seem misleading to me. But, this was a sentence said in response to a question in an interview. While speaking well on ones feet should be a requirement of a presidential candidate, I'm not going to fault someone for not being precisely clear 100% of the time.

I know that I have said things that I wish I had stated in a different way after tha fact. I'm not sure I'll attribute malice in this case.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[sunspot42]

>It's the same idiocy with people saying Bush is
>stupid. Clearly, he's smart enough to get through
>grad school (even with a C average), be the
>governor of a large state, and become the
>president of the US.

Yeah. God knows the billions of dollars his family is worth or their connections to leaders of the Republican Party like Charles Schultz had absolutely nothing to do with it . . .

W's sole skill in life involves having plopped out of a well-financed cunt.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[evilquaker]

I find it interesting that the part you quoted was taken out of context... Later on that webpage, you find the following:

However, validating even the lesser claim Gore intended to make is problematic. Any statement about the "creation" or "beginning" of the Internet is difficult to evaluate, because the Internet is not a homogenous entity (it's a collection of computers, networks, protocols, standards, and application programs), nor did it all spring into being at once (the components that comprise the Internet were developed in various places at different times and are continuously being modified, improved, and expanded). Despite a spirited defense of Gore's claim by Vint Cerf (often referred to as the "father of the Internet") in which he stated "that as a Senator and now as Vice President, Gore has made it a point to be as well-informed as possible on technology and issues that surround it," many of the components of today's Internet came into being well before Gore's first term in Congress began in 1977, and it's hard to find any specific action of Gore's (such as his sponsoring a Congressional bill or championing a particular piece of legislation) that one could claim helped bring the Internet into being, much less validate Gore's statement of having taken the "initiative in creating the Internet." (emphasis mine)

So yes, Al Gore didn't claim to "invent" the internet... but his claim of "I took the initiative in creating the internet" is pretty shaky.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[wkitchen]

Now... would you be a dufus and assume that statement meant I single-handedly went out and cleaned the streets?

He would if he were Dick Armey and you were running as a Democrat.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[ThJ]

Actually I wasn't logged on the first time. :P

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[Scudsucker]

So yes, Al Gore didn't claim to "invent" the internet... but his claim of "I took the initiative in creating the internet" is pretty shaky.

No, its not. In fact, the claim is as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar. Even Bob Kahn and Vince Cerf said as much. You quoted: it's hard to find any specific action of Gore's (such as his sponsoring a Congressional bill or championing a particular piece of legislation) that one could claim helped bring the Internet into being, much less validate Gore's statement of having taken the "initiative in creating the Internet." (emphasis yours)

The problem is that somebody at CNN obviously didn't bother to do any research, because "In 1991, Vice President Al Gore, then a U.S. senator, proposed widening the architecture of NSFNET to include more K-12 schools, community colleges, and 2-year colleges. The resulting legislation expanded NSFNET and renamed it NREN (National Research and Educational Network). This bill also allowed businesses to purchase part of the network for commercial uses. The mass commercialization of today's Internet is the direct result of this legislation." Spank spank, CNN.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[Scudsucker]

but said it in a poorly worded way that made it sound like he was making a crazy claim.

Actually it wasn't crazy at all. Its just the scope of the screwjob that Gore got from the media that makes it look like he worded it poorly.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[Scudsucker]

Why couldn't Gore have said "I pushed through the legislation that funded the internet" or "I helped fund the startup of the internet" if you want a shorter quote. It would have been true. And if misquoted, he would have had a case....Gore was misquoted. But I suspect he wanted to be-he wanted his accomplishments to be seen as more impressive than they were. But he got burned. I think this is a good thing. I just wish it would happen more often.

Wrong. Did the Internet of today spring forth, with its petabytes of data and millions of hosts, from scratch in 1967? Was turning an internet (just two or more networks connected together) into the Internet an overnight process or did it take a few decades? Was making the Internet the work of a single person or organization, or was it the combined efforts of the government, universities and private businesses? Now, given the fact that Gore has done more work on the Internet than any other elected official (don't think so? name one), his claim was 100% solid.

No, the OP was correct. To know the facts and still think Gore was "embellishing" means you are either guilty of intellectual dishonesty, or dumb as a bag of hammers.

Re:Al Gore's Internet

[Scudsucker]

It's the same idiocy with people saying Bush is stupid.

Except he is stupid. I don't fault him for his rampant verbal dyslexia, but I *do* fault him for his consistent struggle just to piece together a coherent thought.

dnsalias?

[fembots]

I don't think anything can survive with a dnsalias address.

Coralized Pages here.

Gore did not claim he invented the Internet

[sg3000]

Gore never claimed to have "invented" the Internet. In fact, the claim that Gore claimed to have invented the Internet should be on the list for the impressive "Institue".

What Gore said is that in an 1999 interview with Wolf Blitzer, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." As Al Franken wrote:

> The phrase "invented the Internet" first appeared in a
> Republican Party press release and would be repeated by the
> "liberal" press thousands of times during the campaign.

Snopes the urban legend debunking website reported on this as well:

> Claim: Vice-President Al Gore claimed that he "invented" the
> Internet.
> Status: False.
> Origins: No, Al Gore did not claim he "invented" the Internet,
> nor did he say anything that could reasonably be interpreted
> that way. The derisive "Al Gore said he 'invented' the Internet"
> put-downs are misleading distortions of something he said
> (taken out of context) during an interview with Wolf Blitzer on
> CNN's "Late Edition" program on 9 March 1999.

As the Boston Globe [Oct 17,2000] reported:

Gore did provide early support for the technology - even if he puffed up his role - but computer pioneers can't even agree on exactly what the Internet is, let alone who created it. ... Technical histories of the Internet refer mainly to the technical milestones along the way. Among all the techno-whizzes that get the credit, only one legislator is mentioned - Gore - despite the fact that every stage of the Internet's evolution was funded and directed by federal grants and initiatives.

Gore was widely credited in histories written long before the vice president's oft-derided comment to CNN reporter Wolf Blitzer that he ''took the initiative in creating the Internet.''

Gore is credited by the technological cognoscenti for having sponsored legislation that helped launch the expansion of the fledgling Internet to ever-wider uses. As early as 1986, Gore articulated a vision of widespread connected computing. In 1989, he said that ''the creation of this nationwide network ... will create an environment where work stations are common in homes and even small businesses.''

Two years later, he introduced a followup bill to expand access to the network, saying, ''In the future, I think we will see computers and networks used to teach every subject from kindergarten through grade school.''

None of these histories comes close to giving him credit for the ''creation'' of the Internet. One account, written by Vinton Cerf (widely known, though he eschews the title, as ''the father of the Internet''), states: ''I think the vice president is very deserving of credit for his active support for the Internet and the businesses that depend on it daily.''

Cerf, now a vice president at MCI-Worldcom, added that ''his remark was almost certainly a slip of the tongue, because he'd be quite correct to say `I helped create the Internet' - because of his work to provide an environment of support for research, technology transfer and e-commerce initiatives so fundamental to the Internet today.''

So, if the Republicans were working to trash Gore's reputation, I guess they could say "Mission Accomplished".

Taco, thanks for proving once again the old proverb, "a lie can make it halfway 'round the world before the truth gets its boots on."

Re:Gore did not claim he invented the Internet

[gad_zuki!]

>Taco, thanks for proving once again the old proverb, "a lie can make it halfway 'round the world before the truth gets its boots on."

All too true. Gore was one of the few "geek" politicians out there (granted he wore many 'hats') and seeing his own record used against him to mock him because of some disturbing form of geek 31337 nonsense and media disinformation is really pathetic.

Oh well, my senator's email address is usually broken and when it works the emails get ignored. I've heard him talk about the tech sector on the radio and he wasn't half as articulate as most high school drop out failed MCSE's I know working at McDonalds.

Liberal media indeed!

Re:Gore did not claim he invented the Internet

[Tony Hoyle]

Sorry but that's bullshit.

He quite clearly said "I took the initiative in creating the internet."

There is *no* other way that that can be taken. He was trying to take the credit for the entire internet.

Re:Gore did not claim he invented the Internet

[dont_think_twice]

"I took the initiative in creating the apple pie"

That statement could be interperted to mean that I actually invented the apple pie. But you would have to be a moron to think that was actually what I meant.

Clearly, the intent of the statement was to claim that I had made a specific apple pie. Or, more specifically, I had initiated the creation of the apple pie - maybe by paying someone to make it, or by telling someone about my ideas, or just as a cheerleader.

Gore was claiming to have played a key role in the creation of the internet. There is nothing in his statement that implies he had anything do with with the technical aspects of its creation, nor is there anything in the statement that implies that he came up with the idea. All the statement says is that he "took the initiative" in "creating the internet" - not "invented the internet"

Re:Gore did not claim he invented the Internet

[dont_think_twice]

So he created ...

NO NO NO !!!
Where did he claim that he created anything?

Re:Gore did not claim he invented the Internet

[Animats]

As early as 1986...

In 1986, the Internet was up and running just fine. I'd been working on it for almost five years. Everybody in academia and aerospace had already made the transition from the IMP-based ARPANET protocols to TCP/IP, thousands of LANs were interconnected with the wide area net, and the protocols were working reliably. Sun was already a viable company. The Internet was growing steadily.

What hadn't happened yet was cheap high-bandwidth fibre. The cost of long-haul links was still quite high in 1986. Much lower cost pipes were needed before the Internet could become a big, free network with a backbone that wouldn't saturate.

Re:Gore did not claim he invented the Internet

[YankeeInExile]

This guy said it best

Re:Gore did not claim he invented the Internet

[Minna Kirai]

In 1986, the Internet was up and running just fine.

No it wasn't. Just go back to your old documents and see if "The Internet" is used with capitalization. It wasn't: back then, "internet" was a common noun, not a proper one. Walking up to a networking professional and asking him about a connection to "the internet" was still an ambiguous question.

Re:Gore did not claim he invented the Internet

[patchvonbraun]

If Gore articulated his vision in 1986, he
must have been cribbing from a paper I wrote
5 years earlier. While in highschool. Because
I'd spend the previous summer at an early
ARPANet site, and had drank deep of the
Network Kool Aid :-)

Re:Gore did not claim he invented the Internet

[HarryCaul]

It's really simple. Gore did what most politicians do- he saw something that was happening anyway, and hitched his wagon to it. Later, he attempted to magnify his role and he got called on it. Happens all the time, and Gore don't get a free ride just cause his election ended up close. He tried to take credit for the work of others and he got busted.

He took the *initiative* in *creating* the internet?

No, he did not.

He was lampooned for trying to say so.

The end.

Re:Gore's "claim"

[nordicfrost]

Link to debunking of lie.

One internet? That's nothing!

[WIAKywbfatw]

Pah, Gore might have "invented" the Internet, but Dubya invented lots of Internets! Internets on the house for everyone!

Re:One internet? That's nothing!

[slashkitty]

Isn't there an Internet 2 now? Doesn't that mean there are not multiple internets?

Re:One internet? That's nothing!

[LinuxHam]

Doesn't that mean there are not multiple internets?

I have a family member who worked for the defense contractor CSC for many years. Over lunch one day, he told me that there are at least five "global Internets" that he knows of.. and how the govt gave the worst one to the public to play with. He went on to describe how they have separate military and public computer and phone networks wired into the building and to each person's desk. And never the two shall meet. They call it the "dark side" and the "light side". I asked him what would happen if an email intended for the "light side" ever ended up in his "dark side" inbox. He replied that guys in dark sunglasses would probably be there a few minutes later.

I saw their kerberos keyserver.. he had to go through three swipe card doors to get back there, and I couldn't get within five feet of the console.

Re:One internet? That's nothing!

[Feanturi]

I don't get it, why do people pick on Dubya for pluralizing the word? There was more than one Internet at the time he made that quote, was there not? Last time I checked, you didn't need to have three of something before you could use the plural form.

Re:One internet? That's nothing!

[tsm_sf]

Because it was totally apparent bush fucked up in that statement. Pluralizing it would have been correct had he known what he was talking about.

Come on, we have a dumb-ass mini-mussolini running the country and you're wondering why people make fun of him?

Re:One internet? That's nothing!

[Platinum Dragon]

Over lunch one day, he told me that there are at least five "global Internets" that he knows of.. and how the govt gave the worst one to the public to play with.

Off the top of my head, would SIPRNET be one of the global networks he was referring to?

I can't think of any other networks that might qualify as a global network worth noting these days. Internet2 seems to be mostly an experimental system at this point, and I have no clue what happened to the Mbone or 6bone. I wonder what the other networks are, and who controls them...

Re:One internet? That's nothing!

[The_reformant]

funny i had the exact opposite experience working for the MOD, they basically have an intranet (admittedly it is national) which can be accessed for classified information. Each employee had an internet enabled laptop and a intranet enabled desktop, in order to transfer info from one to the other you needed to get it declassified thruogh the appropriate channels.

We needed swipe cards but internal doors were left open till 9/11. After 9/11 it was technically not allowed to even let a known colleague pass through without swiping (ie you couldnt hold doors open for people)

Re:One internet? That's nothing!

[LinuxHam]

Off the top of my head, would SIPRNET be one of the global networks he was referring to?

I really have no idea. He left it at the fact that there are some serious global networks out there, and what we call "The Internet" amounts to not much more than table scraps compared to the cutting edge networks out there. Kinda like when dubya has a working vacation at the ranch (or even on Air Force 1), and he talks about the vidcons he has with his cabinet and other high ranking officials.

One room that I saw was like a miniature version of the control center in Wargames, complete with a map of the US and live indicators for links connecting military bases and colored indicators representing the status of servers at each base. It was really a neat place to get a tour of.

The Future

[jacen_sunstrider]

I think that it's the future of the internet, ie who's going to invent the next better thing for the internet, that really matters, as opposed to the back and forth left vs right arguments we've heard for the last 5 years. I would more say that the person/people who first developed, say, javascript or PHP, etc, should be rewarded more, since that is part of what's made the internet so grand. On the flip side, the inventor of the internet also, by connection, has helped create the hideous spam producers. I say we lynch him just for that!

Re:The Future

[Anne Thwacks]

Let me be the first to predict that spyware and the like will kill MS within 12 months (as in "12 months from some unspecified date in the future") because computers running window will die before they can serve any useful function, and the only viable solution will be insert penguin here) Un*x.

Who trusts snopes anymore?

[gad_zuki!]

They proved themselves to be partisan hacks before. And if in you're in the 'truth' business you don't do what they did to Michael Moore and remain trusted.

Granted, that article is correct, but their credibility was killed long ago.

Re:Who trusts snopes anymore?

[Jeremi]

Hey, it's the Karl Rove two-step, right here on Slashdot!

1. Smear your opponent with a distortion, exaggeration, or outright falsehood.
2. If anyone attempts to correct your distortion, find some tidbit from their past that can be used to prove they are "biased" and "untrustworthy" and loudly accuse them of partisan hackery. You can do this regardless of whether their current argument is valid or not -- that's too fine a distinction for the audience to care about.

At this point, the debate will move to discussing whether or not the countering party is trustworthy or not. Now no matter which way this debate goes, you've won! Your original accusation is now taken for granted, and another if the third party ever tries to correct your accusations again, you can now point to the current "debate" (that you just manufactured) to discredit them (and change the subject) even more quickly the next time.

Granted, that article is correct, but their credibility was killed long ago.

See, it works! No need to discuss facts anymore -- just say that the messenger has no credibility, and the facts are irrelevant!

Re:Who trusts snopes anymore?

[corbettw]

From that article: "Michael, if you're out there, please know that I am sorry for having said hurtful things."

Yeah, a partisan hack would say that.

Re:Who trusts snopes anymore?

[p-hawk42]

This is a full-blown logical fallacy, known as "poisoning the well".

Re:Who trusts snopes anymore?

[gad_zuki!]

The concept is very simple its "how can I trust them as a blind authority after they've been discredited." The page I linked it is very nice to Mr. Moore but what it had in its place was a mean spirited attack from so called impartial researchers.

Long story short, they got a lot of mail and complaints, and then had to take down their anti-Moore diatribe and put up an apology. Their original page, which was factually wrong and easily to refute, was up for weeks if not months.

So people tell me "Check snopes, they're impartial" but I say they might not be (at least when it comes to partisan politics). In other words we're forced to have faith in them. Forgive me for being skeptical after watching this whole thing play out on the net with the snopes people.

> find some tidbit

This is hardly some "tidbit" it was a question of internation importance and everyone was linking to snopes and their "Moore has it wrong and so does the Boston Globe" but we're right crap.

And snopes just isn't some "party," they are claim to do objective analysis and have proven to fail at it. They should have folded that day and let others more willing to be objective do the debunking.

Personally, I think people have an emotional attachment to snopes and now its a powerful brand, thus replies like yours with the loaded political term "the Karl Rove two-step."

The truth business isn't an easy one, but they clearly abused their power for quite sometime and used their huge readership to mislead and attack someone. They were caught red-handed. I dont see how you can defend them or dismiss it as a logical fallacy.

Re:Who trusts snopes anymore?

[gad_zuki!]

Only after quite a bit of controversy and complaints did they bother to do this. In other words, their readership was in the Michael Moore demographic (or whatever you call it) so they folded to keep readership and trust, even after proving to be petty and untrustworthy. The original page was up for weeks if not months. And it was linked to all over the place and was an isssue of international importance.

This is another issue where "Blogs" and "new media" fail to be the watchdogs or the "better media" than the established media. Bias and prejudice in the media is real and snopes has it too.

Re:Who trusts snopes anymore?

[jsebrech]

So people tell me "Check snopes, they're impartial" but I say they might not be (at least when it comes to partisan politics). In other words we're forced to have faith in them. Forgive me for being skeptical after watching this whole thing play out on the net with the snopes people.

Obviously there is no such animal as an "impartial source". Everything human made is inherently biased.

To get an unbiased view on a story you would have to know all facts related to that story in depth. This is impossible however, because:
a) not all facts are known in the public sphere; a consequence of imperfect information gathering.
b) not all facts are reported in any single news story; a consequence of bandwidth being limited, and complex issues requiring series of books instead of series of articles to be a complete accounting of the issue.
c) editors enforcing their editorial needs on reporters, such as editors on commercial news sources minimizing exposure for those stories that damage the advertisers or their corporate masters.

So, to say that a source has lost credibility because they have been shown to be biased is pretty silly. Everything is biased. It is impossible with complex issues to even get all the facts, let alone report them in an unbiased way. Heck, it's not even possible to read an unbiased story (if you ever find one) in a way that is unbiased, since we all have to deal with cognitive dissonance, and our imperfect understanding of reality means that we will discount some correct facts because they don't fit in well with some erroneous views we hold.

The only way currently that I see to get a somewhat unbiased view is to be an information hawk, get your news from all sources, cross-compare stories, keep fact databases, historical timelines, do some interviewing of key players, and generally be a reporter yourself and not rely on anyone's analysis. Since nobody can be honestly expected to do all that, I would advise the simple solution of bringing back two things people take for granted but haven't actually existed for a while now: the right to equal time for any side of the story, and the obligation of news organizations to not knowingly lie.

Re:Who trusts snopes anymore?

[gad_zuki!]

>So, to say that a source has lost credibility because they have been shown to be biased is pretty silly.

Youre missing the point.

1. They were factualy incorrect, prefering to go with a story of their own concotion and political leanings.

2. They used their "media outlet" and I use that term lightly for a petty and personal attack on Moore. Can we say partisan hacks? I thought we could.

Even the worst paper saves that juvenille crap for the opinion section.

Re:Who trusts snopes anymore?

[corbettw]

And it was linked to all over the place and was an isssue of international importance.

Why? Because two guys in Canada got pissed about it? I think you're blowing this out of proportion.

Re:Who trusts snopes anymore?

[fatphil]

"""
# The flights carrying bin Laden family members out of the U.S took place over the objections of the FBI: False.
"""

So let's postulate:

# The FBI made no objection to the bin Laden family members flying out of the U.S.

To which snopes would have to say:
Status: True.

But doesn't that make it _worse_?

Thanks for the link, I'd not seen that page before.

FP.

Re:Who trusts snopes anymore?

[Jim_Callahan]

" Smear your opponent with a distortion, exaggeration, or outright falsehood."

You mean accuse them of being a lawyer or politician?

Slashdotted Already?-Weaving the Web.

[Anonymous Coward]

Go read Tim Berners Lee's book Weaving the Web.

Much better than any link, and it's slashdot-proof.

Re:Slashdotted Already?-Weaving the Web.

[Anonymous Coward]

WWW != Internet

Re:Slashdotted Already?-Weaving the Web.

[mefus]

The fact the "Gore claimed to have invented the Internet" meme has now reach the /. headliners says to me /. is dead.

For a long time now I've noticed most "discussion" is so far off topic and so predictably childish and pointless, that there is no reason to even come here anymore.

Blah.

Re:Slashdotted Already?-Weaving the Web.

[eclectro]

For a long time now I've noticed most "discussion" is so far off topic and so predictably childish and pointless, that there is no reason to even come here anymore

I am so tired of comments whining about discussions being "childish and pointless," that I too have stopped coming to slashdot.

Blah

Re:Slashdotted Already?-Weaving the Web.

[hesiod]

> Gore's grade point average in school was even worse than President Bush's

I don't compare GPAs of politicians. Even more importantly, GPA is not a measure of intelligence. I know some brilliant C students. I know some morons who got "A"s. GPA measures how well someone can perform under one particular method of teaching, and it is not useful as a universal (or even country-wide) scale.

It seems

[NIK282000]

That site is internet history as well.

Mandatory Correction of Gore Quote

[MarkedMan]

Gore never claimed to have "invented" the Internet. He did, however, correctly take credit for chairing the committee that created the Internet (and yes, the Internet was a government creation). Our bilious politics and the American (and French) habit of analysis by sarcasm, coupled with the media's and citizenry's incredible laziness, led to the damaging sound bites.

This is from the Daily Howler's excellent analysis of this whole issue (http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh120302.shtml) It starts several paragraphs into the piece:

Martin Walker wrote this in The Guardian:

WALKER (12/30/88): American computing scientists are campaigning for the creation of a "superhighway" which would revolutionise data transmission.

Legislation has already been laid before Congress by Senator Albert Gore of Tennessee, calling for government funds to help establish the new network, which scientists say they can have working within five years, at a cost of Dollars 400 million.

Mirrordot

[BReflection]

Mirrordot got them

Re:Mirrordot

[ZosX]

Uh, the links in the mirror point to the original website, so the page is not browseable, unless I'm missing something. Isn't there a way to fix this?

History History History

[proudlyindian]

Hisory of internet site explains and showcases the era between invention of internet and discovery of slashdot.org.

The "Hisory of internet site" now exists on the historical site archive.org :P

Very realistic

[nizo]

From the front page:

This Institute of Internet History (IOIH) is dedicated to the recording and documenting the history of the Internet...

Click here to start the journey...

Right now it is loading about as fast as a BBS login screen downloading at 300baud to a paper terminal. Talk about a realistic tour of the beginnings of the internet!

Who's seen an IMP?

[chiph]

All those who have seen an IMP in person, raise your hand.

{raises hand}

I saw some BBN technicians install an IMP while I was stationed at McClellan AFB in 1985-6. It took up 4 racks (but probably could have fit in 3). At the time, I had no clue what it was for.

Chip H.

Re:Who's seen an IMP?

[uzi]

They've got an IMP at the Computer History Museum on Shoreline in Mountain View that I saw a few months ago... not to mention a whole bunch of other really neat machines. Check out their site at http://www.computerhistory.org/ ... mouse over "Exhibits" and click on "Visible Storage", enter the exhibit, click on the 60's-80's link, the "Significant Machines" and then "Interface Message Processor" and you'll be treated with a (small) photo of it and a bunch of info.

As a side note, anyone interested in reading more about the history of the Internet should pick up a copy of "Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet" by Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon. It was a good read that I recommend (and not just because I learned that three people who played a significant role went to the same high school that I did).

Re:Who's seen an IMP?

[biobogonics]

no I have not seen one of those but I did use a system based on SCPs. Back in the late 80s - early 90s the state of Michigan was developing a network to link public universities and research institutions. It was possible to dial into a local node and then connect to the computer system at one of the state universities plus other sites. Instead of establishing a SLIP or PPP connection, you dialed in with a comm program + terminal emulation software and got a "Which Host?" prompt. Later on the system (Merit, now MichNet) moved over to TCP/IP and for a while offered free in state SLIP/PPP access. It was loads of fun using KA9Q on a dos box to access library catalogs, the software archive at the University of Michigan and the (now defunct) Simtel mirror at Oakland University (oak.oakland.edu).

Re:Who's seen an IMP?

[smootc-m]

I saw the IMP at the University of Texas at Austin in 1982. It was a single roll around cabinent with a door and rubber seals.

Re:Who's seen an IMP?

[hta]

There's one in the Computer History Museum in San Jose. Not in working order, though....

how terrible

[ImTheDarkcyde]

i do beleive that the last 3/4ths of posters are "off topic" or "redundant"

the 3rd or so post linked to the al gore invented the internet, now there are about 20 more to the same site.

so is there a mirror of the article somewhere for us to read?

Re:how terrible

[sg3000]

> i do beleive that the last 3/4ths of posters are "off topic" or
> "redundant"

> the 3rd or so post linked to the al gore invented the internet,
> now there are about 20 more to the same site.

Redundant doesn't mean simultaneous.

Look at the time stamps for the posts. They're all about the same time. Clearly people read the line and decided to hit reply. In the time it takes for someone to type a response and hit send, is the difference in when they were posted. Note that the longer responses are posted slightly later.

I think "redundant" should be left for someone posting a link to Snopes or whatever a half-a-day later. Not for the case where several of people write a similar response at the same time. Particularly in the case where this is fact checking.

This is no different than if Taco posted an article with the statement, "and as we know the moon is made out of green cheese"; you'd probably have a lot of posts submitted at the same time questioning that. Not redundant, just simultaneous.

Re:how terrible

[Anonymous Coward]

It's just sad that the "editors" fell for such an obvious ploy, when they normally manage to filter this crap out.

You must be new here.

Re:how terrible

[dswensen]

What article? I'm too engaged with this fresh and scintillating Al Gore debate!

Re:how terrible

[1u3hr]

so is there a mirror of the article somewhere for us to read?

No, the site is hosted on a dynamic IP, so after the first dozen hits it disappeared. No ne can read it for the next day or more. So there's nothing to discuss except the stupid Al Gore misquote.

In our days

[karvind]

In our days we used smoke signal .....

Re:In our days

[cpghost]

In our days we used smoke signal .....

But only with a pure ALOHA protocol!

Re:In our days

[AndroidCat]

And at 18% throughput, you had to blow a lot of smoke!

Institute of Internet History

[base_chakra]

This "institute" must be brand spankin' new because there doesn't seem to be any links to it or information about it anywhere. It's not indexed by Yahoo or Google, and there's nothing on Usenet. If the project actually lives up to its name it could be an incredible resource, but so far it looks like a pet project with an ill-planned launch.

As a technophile and a cultural studies nut, I'm really interested in the kind of chronicle that the IOIH alleges to offer.

Btw, sorry to interrupt the Al Gore free-for-all.

Re:Institute of Internet History

[jnik]

It's hosted on a dynamic IP service..i.e. someone's home box. It has the slashdot "funny" icon on it. Even without being able to read TFA, I suspect you'll be disappointed.

Re:Institute of Internet History

[Chatmag]

Domain Name:IOIH.ORG Created On:12-Jan-2004 16:01:38 UTC Last Updated On:13-Mar-2004 03:57:17 UTC Expiration Date:12-Jan-2005 16:01:38 UTC Registrant Name:Cynthia Burton Registrant Organization:Cynthia Burton Registrant City:Lexington Registrant State/Province:MA Registrant Postal Code:02420 Registrant Country:US Name Server:YNS1.YAHOO.COM Name Server:YNS2.YAHOO.COM

Does this mean Yahoo! has been slashdotted?

Pong did it

[shadowsurfr1]

I still give credit to pong for inventing it.

Re:Pong did it

[shadowsurfr1]

Yes. It's from a recent editon of Wired Magazine I scanned in. I should've posted that.

You call that a history?

[wombatmobile]

This is history.

From ISOC.

Re:Why? Ummm....

[gad_zuki!]

And which one of these guys started a "pre-emptive" war based on this "intelligence." None of them. The blood is on the hands of Bush and the neocons.

Thanks for pointing out that that the two party system is pretty shitty here in the US, though.

Doesn't matter who 'created' it.

[hndrcks]

Our newly re-elected Dear Leader will find a good 'reason' to take it away.

Re:Doesn't matter who 'created' it.

[FuzzyBad-Mofo]

Saying the smirking chimp was re-elected is inaccurate, since his first presidency was determined by the Supreme Court.

/nitpick

here's a history

[Prince Vegeta SSJ4]

here's a brief history http://gsulaw.gsu.edu/lawand/papers/sp98/jones.htm l

I heard this story from someone who was there

[Raul654]

My advisor (David Mills, first chairman of the Internet Architecture Committee and inventor of NTP) mentioned this once. He said that Al Gore's staff were at every technical meeting related to internet development, and that the funding Gore helped push through Congress was critical to the project. Furthermore, he said after that quote was widely distorted in the media (where Gore rightfully claimed credit for providing the funding), he and several others who *did* invent the internet signed a public affidavit attesting to the veracity of the claim.

Re:I heard this story from someone who was there

[winwar]

Let's see, you say the quote was "widely distorted" but I disagree. The transcript (assuming it is correct, etc, etc) states Gore said:

"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

Now reporters saying that "Gore said he invented the internet" is not too far fetched. Sure, created might have been better but so what (not nearly the worst summary I have ever seen by a reporter....)

Note that Gore didn't say he supported the legislation that funded it. Indirectly, in the next sentence, yes, but not directly. Gore set himself up for this-he knew reporters would likely summarize his statement (he wasn't new to the game) and he overreached and got burned.

And note what you said:

"and that the funding Gore helped push through Congress was critical to the project."

In any case, it probably would have happened without him. Look, I know why he made the quote-in the Congress you are not seen as directly responsible for any piece of legislation even if you were critical to it. So you have to make it known. Unlike the president who gets to sign every piece of legislation (see, I supported it....) Legislation is a team sport, when it is good everyone likes to take credit, when it is bad, nobody is responsible...

Re:I heard this story from someone who was there

[shanen]

Shouldn't that post be modified "funny"? There is no "wild distortion" modifier. He has to include part of the post and then try to make up a fantasy explanation of why it means what HE says it *REALLY* means, which is truly hilarious.

On second thought, I think it should have a "+5 hypocritical" rating.

Re:I heard this story from someone who was there

[1u3hr]

Now reporters saying that "Gore said he invented the internet" is not too far fetched. Sure, created might have been better but so what (not nearly the worst summary I have ever seen by a reporter....)

It IS far-fetched; as well as being a lie. Gore made one ambiguously worded statement, that is arguably true, and it was rewritten to make him sound like an idiot (by conservatives with an axe to grind) and repeated and headlined till it became a label. The word "invented" is the one that draws blood, and he never said it.

Re:I heard this story from someone who was there

[famebait]

Now reporters saying that "Gore said he invented the internet" is not too far fetched

What do you mean "not far fetched"? It's plain wrong and that is all there is to it. "Initiative to create" can easily mean "decided to actually have it built, from the newly existing technology". "Invented" can not.

In any case, it probably would have happened without him

Eventually, but it could easily have taken years. Not that many suit-clad parent-generation politicians back then saw the potential clearly enough to actually go push for it.

raise hand

[keithmoore]

Saw an IMP at Carnegie-Mellon University on December 8, 1980 - the same day John Lennon was shot. (sigh)

Gore's "Information Superhighway"

[peter303]

Some of us with memories back to the mid-1980s actually remember the creation of the InterNet. At that time the federal government approved funds (via Gore's bill) for transcontinental, high capacity computer data lines. This would complement and connect several existing academic and military lines. And businesses would be allowed to connect too. Tapping into these lines meant you had to standardize a few basic protocols not everyone was using at the time.

Re:Gore's "Information Superhighway"

[Anonymous Coward]

Heh, those of us who were there at the dawn of the Internet well remember Al Gore's efforts to raise funding and to boost its public use. I even still have a book from 1992 called The Internet Companion by Tracy LaQuey that featured a Forword by Al Gore.

He provided a service to all of us who live by the net today, and were he President now the world would be a much better place and its future would not look so terribly grim.

He is a politician, true, but certainly one of the better ones, and deserves credit for all he did for us.

--ern

Re:Gore's "Information Superhighway"

[curious.corn]

Yep, very true indeed... see for yourself: sane linky to online version of said book I also happen to agree on the second point...

Re:Gore's "Information Superhighway"

[curious.corn]

OMG! The 1994 book even has chapters devoted to NETIQUETTE!, spam and basic security advice... it even tells about the difference in hacker/cracker! Oh shit! I want an LSD trip and dream about a world where all friggin' surfers have notion of this, Microsoft was broken in two comapnies: OS and Applications, Bush wasn't thrown into office by his cronies, damn wars all 'round the globe and Berlusconi was a convicted fraudster... hell, I want MY world back! I haven't hurt anybody, why must I suffer all this?

Milestone!

[SenatorOrrinHatch]

...and on this day of December 2004, the Internet History site was first Slashdotted!

BTW, the REAL history of the internet is in the Google Cache! I wonder if a fella could make a career out of perusing THAT?

Re:Milestone!

[1u3hr]

BTW, the REAL history of the internet is in the Google Cache!

No, because that's purged every time they revisit a page. You only get a few months' history, if that. (Google Groups has a lot of usenet back to the 80s though.) Try the Wayback Machine for back to about 1996.

slashdotted - ironical :S

[moro_666]

isn't slashdotting the site that actually explains how we have evolved to this slashdot community kind of ironical ?

this would be the same as if we all took trucks to visit the first oil pumping station and we would run out of gas :)

Re:Truth is the seed of legend

[austintech]

You mean, "Why can't we continue to trash Gore for making an exaggeration, even when his statement had merit?" Let. It. Go. Already.

No Reads

[humina]

Easiest way for people to ignore the actual article? Put a comment about how gore invented the internet of course. It also helps that the article is slashdotted.

"Initiate the creation" isn't the same as "invent"

[Scrameustache]

So taking "the initiative in creating" something isn't inventing it? Am I unreasonable in thinking otherwise?

J.F.K. took the initiative in creating the lunar landers. He didn't invent them, and it is completely unreasonnable to think otherwise.

No.....now look here....

[ONOIML8]

Al Gore is a god to the left. Unlike most folk, the left don't believe in a single divine entity, Gore is one of many.

As a god of the left, Gore was doing service in Congress in the late 60's and took the initiative he claims.

Those of you who do not believe are liars. Do not attempt to twist his words you heathen. He meant what he said and said what he meant.

Al Gore may very well be your father as well. Do not question it.

Even Snopes agrees that Gore is correct. When the internet was created, Gore took the initative. Snopes wouldn't lie about such a thing, they can't. Snopes is always accuarte 1000% of the time. Your bible is full of innacuracies and bullshit, Snopes is not.

All hail Al.

More Nitpick (OT)

[hndrcks]

Technically, SCOTUS handed down an opinion based upon a legally unsound equal protection argument. (That same argument is about to bite them in the ass in Ohio, I hope and pray.) The decision allowed the actual 'election' (which is performed by the electors, not the public) to commence on schedule in January 2001.

So yeah, to nitpick, Our Dear Leader was "elected" in January 2001. Fraudulently.

Of course its a "blue" site

[Tarential]

"Precisely. Didn't you get your Slashdot rules of conduct? This is a "blue" site."

Of course this is a blue site. Why, you ask? Simple. The majority of people who read Slashdot are those also frequently considered "nerds" - the ones who are good with computers. The ones who, for the most part, are quite intelligent (if not a little bit like sheep sometimes). This intelligence is used to see through the veil of lies that the American people are being covered with by Dubya.

Now, the real decision... to log in, or to post anonymously.

Re:CHENEY OPPOSED THE INTERNET

[Anonymous Coward]

Look it up. Gores crazy idea for funding this so called "internet" and opening it up for the public sector to use and build upon was OPPOSED by Cheney, both BILLS.

For The Life of Me...

[oobob]

I can't figure out why so many Bush supporters earnestly defend the president for speaking clumisly, saying that we shouldn't judge him for it, and then vow to never forgive this one (mis)quoted sentence of Al Gore's that, while technically true and true in some sense of his meaning, is a little too broad. Not to suggest the Democrats aren't guilty of the same: most of politics revolves around these gaffes. This leads me to a bigger point. In these stupid squabbling matches (which human error gives us the chance to enjoy several times yearly), does anyone here just say it's all stupid? Is anyone here absolutely consistent in their opinion? The only time people seem unable to forgive these errors is when a politician in the party they don't belong to makes them. Can anyone here admit that sometimes people phrase things wrong? Does anyone here have the balls to say, yes, I sometimes fuck up my sentences? Because this is slashdot, and while I now study math and the sciences, the classes from my former writing major tell me that you folks shouldn't be critizing these people for speaking inaccurately. This is doubly true for the people who don't have the internet, as we've at least practiced our reading and writing skills online rather than rot in front of the TV.

I honestly think this lack of perspective signifies the worst about our culture. Stupid petty squabbling about wording or taking sentences to mean the most implausable things they can is not political discussion. Holding others to standards that we'd easily excuse for ourselves and those we care about is how the feeble minded make their points (this is particularly insidious if you don't know your friends are gay or smoke drugs). No one talks about ideas anymore because we can't read or think, and hence we can't speak or seperate this sort of political bullshit from the issues that matter. While in an ideal world this sort of nonsense would occur equally between both parties, the presence of dogmatic thinking absolutely requires these shallow rebuttals when the world-view encompassing dogma is questioned, lest it be contradicted. Democrats can be and often are petty, but when the significance of a person's religion and life thus far - complete with the promise of eternal happiness - are swept away in practical arguments or considerations, these sorts of rebuttals necessarily crop up. See Rush Limbaugh and his 3 divorces + drug use, then compare it to the inability to marry for gay couples and the 50% of the drug population in jail being African-American, mainly incarcarated for using crack, which is punished at 100X the severity of cocaine (they're the same drug, but cocaine is preferred by whites and not in freebase form). If there's a guide book to the battles in America we're facing right now, it's Bertrand Russel's "Why I Am Not a Christian."* I suggest you all read it.

*For those of you who are Christians, most of the book deals with the dogmatic christianity that was still lingering around the turn of the 20th century. While he does take Christianity to task for the shit smears it has stomped into the tapestry of human history, your modern faith will hardly be examined, unless he points out that the reason you find it so palatable is because of the attacks on the Church made by it's enemies across the centuries.

zerg

[Lord Omlette]

There are enormous gaps in this so called "history" including where the Internet came from.

Feel free to mark this as Redundant -- as long as

[Antaeus Feldspar]

As long as I can mark that front-page article by the editors as Irresponsible And Just Plain Wrong. I won't be the only one to point this out, I know, but I think it bears repeating, especially because it's the sort of thing that could potentially lead to lawsuits.

It's bad enough to take what Gore actually said, that he took a lead role in the creation of the Internet -- which he did, by supporting the project in his political role -- and buy into the urban legend that he said he invented it. It's even worse to put quotes around it and thus falsely claim that that word came from Gore.

So in short, as Cmdr. Taco keeps reminding us, "Hey! We're News For Nerds! News doesn't have to stick to that annoying 'truth' stuff!" (No, he didn't actually say that, but hey, let's put it in quotes as if he did...)

IOIH a joke?

[jahknow]

Did noone else (who got through and saw ioih.org) guess that this site (and this post) is a hoax? The one poster indicated it wasn't in google but noone cast doubt on the IOIH.

I mean, the site wasn't in google etc, the site mentions a "Aldophus B. Huxley" who's not in google either (nor was the respelled "Did you mean: Adolphus B. Huxley"?)... The site was rife with misspellings and was not even completed. This "Huxley" worked with his engineer "John C. McGinley" -- that's the name of the guy who plays Dr. Perry Cox on the NBC comedy "Scrubs." Ditto the "Guffing Gertie." I mean yeah, it's more likely the Internet was invented by Al Gore than some textile manufacturers in 1839. (Actually, Al just invented the PMRC with his wife.)

http://www.nbc.com/Scrubs/bios/John_C._McGinley.ht ml

I am willing to believe my tinfoil hat is simply too tight today. It's not April 1, is it?

Re:IOIH a joke?

[guet]

Adolphus B. Huxley

I think you're supposed to think of Aldous Huxley

Probably just another hoax, particularly given the icon the story has.

Re:IOIH a joke?

[jahknow]

Indeed, I was thinkin' of Aldous. And not about the foot icon up top. Here's to universal happiness.

Re:IOIH a joke?

[Gridpoet]

defiently a hoax...the text claims that Mark David Chapman assinated President Lincoln...uhh hello????

... but ping got the credit

[starling]

There's no justice.

Judicial Activism Works Both Ways

[tjstork]

Lefties should take the SCOTUS Bush vs Gore with a bit of grain of salt. It's your side that created the monster known as the judicial activist, now deal with it.

Were it not for the courts, most of the left wing agenda's anti-american growth agenda would not exist. There would be no bussing. There would be no endless environmental lawsuits. There would be no ACLU. There would be no gun control. And certainly, when you want to argue that gun control is not an individual right, then while doing so please point out the clause in the constitution that guarantees a right to choose.

I think most conservatives would gladly trade a strict constitutional role of the courts, a vast rollback of the insane extensions of the constitution's commerce clause, in exchange for Gore 2000.

I thought the internet created itself

[f05t3k]

Kind of like an organic thing that grew out of control like california law.

Jeez

[Luveno]

With a summary like that, you should have just posted this in politics.

Al Gore WRECKED the Internet

[Feanturi]

I recall, back in late 1993 or maybe early 94, somewhere around there, being infuriated by this guy I'd never heard of before. Some jerk named Al Gore was on national television beaking off about the "Information Superhighway" that was out there.
"SHUT UP!!!" I screamed at the TV. "Everybody's going to want in, just shut up oh please please stop talking!!"

Give him credit for that, at the very least.

Re:Feel free to mark this as Redundant -- as long

[RexRhino]

Al Gore didn't take a lead creating in the creation of the internet... the internet started as ARPAnet in the 60's, way before Al Gore had much of a political career.

So, even the idea that Al Gore took a political role in creating the Internet is a falsehood. Al Gore had nothing to do with creating, supporting, enhancing the internet, other than give some nice pork contracts to tech companies that donated money to the Democratic party.

Re:Kerry voters are the stupid ones.

[Brandybuck]

I have a post graduate teaching degree. Was it an intellectual challenge to aquire? Please, don't make me laugh!

Re:Gore this, Gore that

[odyrithm]

It's also ! about the "'net" as we know it today, it's about steam powered nitting!

Seriously.

8-bit Theatre?

[SharpFang]

King Steve Singlehandedly Solved Starvation

Seek other King Steve references as well...

Netcraft confirms: /. is dead

[nutshell42]

If you want to make a living from telling everyone that /. is dead you'll have to stand in line behind the "BSD is dead", "M$ sucks", "Repent, the Hurd is near", "Linux r00LZoRZ!!", "the Apple the better", "Krusading Gainst eStupid iPrefixes" etc people.

This place is not a serious discussion forum, actually sometimes it is and then it is good enough that I can overlook the rest of the time when /. is a heap of trolls.

Re:Netcraft confirms: /. is dead

[mefus]

This place is not a serious discussion forum, actually sometimes it is and then it is good enough that I can overlook the rest of the time when /. is a heap of trolls.

I always tried to be in on those discussions, and hopefully even be able to contribute. AND, I would try to deflate some of the worst memes in the forum.

But when those memes reach the headline level (and this is the prompt of my complaint) I just can't stand it anymore.

It's bad enough that someone injects it into the thread of a discussion: scrolling down scrolling down looking for something that isn't just a rehash of old points, I often hit the bottom of the page. Recently. It's mostly pointless recently to look beyond the headline. By far the lion's share of the discussion is absoluter Schiesse, and reading at a higher threshold doesn't help because while the more articulate participants are usually the ones modded up, they are still about these ideas that just won't die. I'll try reading at +5 (been at +0 for years) and if I'm still getting that tired feeling, no more posts, and if I see one more stupid headline... what do you care?

Cake; having and eating

[A nonymous Coward]

Judicial activism is such a strawman. Everyone who uses that phrase ignores the actual legal reasoning behind every claim and just repeat the dirty phrase like some parrot whose recording got stuck in the groove.

They ignore conservative "judicial activism", such as making corporations legal individuals back in the 1880s or so, or the more recent remark by Justice Scalia, in the Texas case which gave homosexuals the right to privacy as regards sex in their own bedrooms; where even he admitted the legal reasoning was valid but he voted against it on the grounds it would upset the current conservative moral agenda.

Is that not the definition of judidical activism?

Re:Cake; having and eating

[tjstork]

Legal reasoning should be ignored. The law of the land should be made by the will of the people through the congress, limited by the state governments, not a court. It's bad enough that the House of Representatives does not have a constitutional say in accepting treaties.

Re:Cake; having and eating

[Dh2000]

"the will of the people"
sounds nice, but means nothing these days.

"the will of congress"
will do nicely, thanks.

Re:Cake; having and eating

[sconeu]

The law of the land should be made by the will of the people through the congress, limited by the state governments, not a court.

And when the Congress passes a law that blatantly violates the Constitution (*cough* USA-PATRIOT *cough*), what then? Who watches the watchers?

Re:Cake; having and eating

[tjstork]

And who watches the watchers watchers, and who watches the watchers of the watchers watching. The idea of people to watch people is a recursive failure and those societies always blow up in stack overflow.

Don't vote for people that pass the Patriot act.

Isn't that the deal?

Re:Cake; having and eating

[sconeu]

Yeah, but what do you do when a something blatantly unconstitutional becomes the law of the land.

Hypothetical: Congress passes a law stating that $RELIGIOUS_DENOMINATION is now the official religion of the US.

According to your original post, we'd all have to live with it, because *it's the law* and Congress passed it and the Pres signed it, First Amendment notwithstanding. And according to the parent to this, all we could do is wait to vote out the fools who did so, and hope that the new fools will repeal it. I don't think so.

The whole point of the US government is checks and balances. The point of judicial review is the check and balance against Congress (and the Pres) overreaching and doing something blatantly unconstitutional.

Not true.

[geekoid]

Al GOre was in charge of the commitee that took the ARPAnet and made it public.
Many people in politicas and governm,ent did not want that to happen, but Al GOre used his political power, took a political risk, and signed the paper the made ARPAnet public.
It was named the internet.

So politicaly, he did create the internet. Which is fine becasue he is a politician. At no time did he take credit for the technical aspects of the Internet, on the political.

Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf acknowledge in a paper titled "Al Gore and the Internet" that Al Gore has probably done more than any other elected official to support the growth and development of the Internet from the 1970's to the present.

the worse part is, people who didn't even bother to try to understand the context used this to hurts Gores election. Which would have been fine if he was running against someone who wasn't a drug using, handicapped frying, dumb ass.

According to Letterman..

[qadmon]

Top Ten Other Achievements Claimed By Al Gore

10. Was first human to grow an opposable thumb

9. Only man in world to sleep with someone named "Tipper"

8. Current Vice President - Moesha fan club

7. He invented the dog

6. While riding bicycle one day, accidentally invented the orgasm

5. Pulled U.S. out of early 90's recession by personally buying 6,000 T-shirts

4. Starred in CBS situation comedy with Juan Valdez, "Juan for Al, Al for Juan"

3. Was inspiration for Ozzy Osboune song "Crazy Train"

2. Came up with popular catchphrase "Don't go there, girlfriend"

1. Gave mankind fire

I was there

[heybo]

Look guys go do your homework.... The Internet was first started in the 70's when Gore was smoking dope in collage. Yes there was an Internet long before web browsers and it was a better place to be.

Re:I was there

[djupedal]

The 'internet' existed long before Gore created what we now know as the 'Internet' - capitalization at it's finest :)

Re:I was there

[heybo]

You are right and then also wrong. The Internet (Big "I") has always had the big "I" matter of fact it used to have a lot of big letters. First it was MILnet (which I worked on) then it was ARPnet and then it was the Internet. Gore only got financing to turn it into the advertizing mess that it is in now. Gore do not create shit!

CmdrTaco is Irrelevant

[Anonymous Coward]

Passing on crap like the author's comments about Gore just means CmdrTaco is irrelevant.

CmdrTaco, you know it's false, so why do you perpetuate it? Maybe you're just an arrogant little prick wannabe-skate-punk who has proven that advertising money from hit counts is more important than truth.

Step aside, jackass. You've lost all remaining credibility (whatever that amounted to).

Re:The two statements are equal, and incorrect

[sam_handelman]

Firstly, he didn't say "invent" so you meant to say:
1) "create" means "invent" in this context.

Which is also wrong; you are simply mistaken about the context. Did you even read the article that was linked to?

"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. 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 protection, improvements in our educational system."

Emphasis added. Explain to me how, in that context, Gore was refering to anything other than his legislative achievements.

http://www.issues2000.org/askme/internet.htm

In case you can't be bothered to read that either:
"In the 1980s DARPA, which is part of the Pentagon and financed the first incarnation of the internet, defunded a number of projects, including civilian use of the internet, which weren't directly related to military applications. Gore played a major role* in seeing that the internet project was retained under the National Science Foundation, which created nsfnet. Nsfnet ultimately became the internet we know and love today."

* He introduced the legislation, more specifically.

Gore might more properly have said "I took the initiative in creating the *modern* Internet."

But at this point we are clearly beyond the pale; Gore was telling the truth, even if he wasn't going into tremendous detail.

Re:Idiot

[paganizer]

really?
refute 1.
we're waiting.
preferably refute it with 3rd party documentation; this would be a party that is not under the control, in ANY way, of the current governmant.

DISINFO ALERT - GOP 'Framing' attacks are *lies*..

[ultraworld]

Gore never claimed that.. It was part of a coordinated right-wing disinformation campaign, just one of many many many.. Read about it in about a zillion books on your newsstand now.. David Brock's "Blinded by the Right" and "The Great Republican Noise Machine" both describe this incredible force for evil in chilling detail. He used to be a GOP insider, so he knows of what he speaks. These people have no shame. Now they have targeted blogs.. perhaps the parent post was part of it.. Another big part of the GOP disinfo campaign are framing attacks.. Typically, they describe an issue in terms that have the exact opposite meaning of what they describe.. See this excerpt from the recent book "Don't Think of an Elephant" for more on how this works.. Its excellent.. http://www.chelseagreen.com/images/DTE_Sampler.pdf Theres also much more on the GOP's deceptive framing attacks at the Rockridge Institute http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/bookstore/elepha nt

in defense of ashcroft

[PsiPsiStar]

as nutty as Ashcroft could be, I don't think he did anything as A.G. that Janet Reno wouldn't have done with the same powers.

Re:in defense of ashcroft

[finkployd]

Possibly, but he went on a much more comprehensive power grab than she did. And he did some nutball ultra religious things that threw off even right wing conservatives (spending thousands of dollars to cover the breasts on a statue at the DoJ)

Finkployd

Al Gore - the foul tree never bears fresh friut

[argoff]

My understanding was that a group of experts conspired to lie to Al Gore in hearings (a felony) and promised him that the internet could never be used for free dialog and the unrestricted flow of information in order to gain support for letting the internet to go commercial.

I recall reading somthing to that effect many years ago, but couldn't find it in searches. Anyone else hear this too?

Congratulations you all suck

[Rize]

I come here to see what people's take is on this article (I find it difficult to believe first of all) and instead everybody's arguging about politics. Congratulations to the author of the post who couldn't resist a jab at Gore. Why can't we just leave the ****ing politics where they belong (like maybe another website)?

Re:Congratulations you all suck

[Rize]

By the way, I should add that I posted this at a critical moment prior to reading a paragraph that clearly indicates that this is in jest. The article becomes less and less believable with each page. I wonder how long it's taking each person to realize that it's bullshit.

It's Funny. Laugh!

[toofanx]

Doesn't anyone have a sense of humour nowadays? I guess the slashdot crowd is way too nerdy to understand what's meant to be funny. That's probably why we have some indication before the article to imply that it's a joke. It's so sad that what was meant to be joke became a flame-throwing political discussion just because Al Gore was jibed in the description. Maybe I'm a raving lunatic, but I actually find some of the photographs especially funny.

How ignorant can people get?!?

[A nonymous Coward]

One of the most basic reasons for the rebellion of 1775 was the desire for ruled by law, not ruled by the king.

You conservatives who desire the tyranny of the majority ought to wonder what things would have been like under FDR, or would be like under Hillary.

Republican propagandists make me sick

[laupsavid]

To you people, made-up information that fits your preconceptions are facts, and facts that make you uncomfortable are liberal propaganda. Either that or you missed your lithium dose this morning. I don't know what the hell you guys get out of supporting the administration. They're making you poor just as fast as they're making everyone else poor. I guess you're all just stupid.

History?

[oneself]

Is this a serious site, or some sort of joke?

They claim "Mark David Chapman" killed Lincoln (he killed Lennon).

What is this?

Re:Why? Ummm....

[kevlar]

How about the USA's invasion of Yugoslavia or Panama for that matter?

Obligatory Lionel Hutz quote

[e7]

"Ehh. He'll be back."

Cant u spot a joke when u see one?

[yurigoul]

This is one of the most funny articles I have seen about the birth of the internet. For those who did not take the time to RTFA/RTFS (and most of u who posted here obviously did not) it is about the internet being born from steam technology in the early 19th century. Especialy the part about the pings is crude (ping: child of about 6 payed to crawl through steam pipes to clear them and often forgotten when the network was repressurized again)

Re:For The Life of Me...

[BandwidthHog]

does anyone here just say it's all stupid? Is anyone here absolutely consistent in their opinion?

Yes.

I am Mr. A Number One Bush detractor, but I frequently point out that holding his verbal gaffes against him is only a step removed from criticizing his leadership because you don't like his haircut. I had to frequently remind my friends while watching the debates that both men misspoke, and that while it's fun to joke about it, it is not substantive.

But to despise him for the dumb shit he seems to believe, well, that's fair game.

To use Shakespeare....

[Himring]

I hate I missed this one, but I only read /. through the week. If anyone reads this lone post in the great vastness of nothing, then please reply to it....

Having a major in English lit and having studied linguistics, semantics and all that shit that I don't use to make a living now, and doing my best to be objective (read my journal), I must say that this issue of Al Gore's famous words regarding the Internet continues to fascinate me.

The mere fact that people defend, vehemently, what he said reveals to me that there's something to it. I.e., "me thinks he doeth protest too much," as one of Shakespeare's characters put it. Which means, the fact that there's all this buzz -- that we can't even discuss the Internet's history without 90% of that discussion going toward Gore -- tells me that surely there's "something rotten in the state of Denmark" (ugh, I'm wearing out the Shakespeare quotes).

1st and foremost, Gore did indeed contribute, perhaps more than any other in his day, to the Internet's development. Now, that means, as a government representative he did what his position could do and did more than any other.

So, did Gore tell the truth? Yes, there was truth in what he said (there's also truth in a joke, a lie, a heresy, and indeed in the truth itself), did his political opponents use his famous words to smear him? Yes. Did they find a weakness and exploit it? Yes. All of this is true.

As I see it, he was speaking the truth regarding some factual happenings, but he was also self-aggrandizing and exaggerating, and that's what bit him in the ass. He broke a cardinal rule of politics and he knew better, so no one should feel sorry for him or, really, defend him any longer (please, let's let this die). Always let your political enemies bury themselves when wounded. Always let your political friends defend you when possible, and always, ALWAYS, let your political friends puff your record. You should come across as humble, kind, gracious, etc. Gore puffed himself for himself all by himself and it cost him greatly. Good job in this thread on explaining the "truth" of the matter, but live with the fact that he screwed the political pooch otherwise....