" wrote in message
"During my service in the
United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the
Internet.
Yep, it was those words that stirred up the right-wing **** storm. Those
words, however, are generally accepted by those in the industry and relevent
political arena as being essentially valid. Most promienently, by Vinton
Cerf and Robert Kahn, who personally bebunked the "I invented the Internet"
baloney. Their statement, in part, reads,
"No one person or even small group of persons exclusively "invented" the
Internet. It is the result of many years of ongoing collaboration among
people in government and the university community. But as the two people
who designed the basic architecture and the core protocols that make the
Internet work, we would like to acknowledge VP Gore's contributions as a
Congressman, Senator and as Vice President. No other elected official, to
our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over a longer period of
time."
"Last year the Vice President made a straightforward statement on his
role. He said: "During my service in the United States Congress I took the
initiative in creating the Internet." We don't think, as some people have
argued, that Gore intended to claim he "invented" the Internet. Moreover,
there is no question in our minds that while serving as Senator, Gore's
initiatives had a significant and beneficial effect on the still-evolving
Internet. The fact of the matter is that Gore was talking about and
promoting the Internet long before most people were listening."
Their entire statement can be viewed at
http://tinyurl.com/28h23. Of
course, you are free to discount the opinions of Cerf & Kahn. I mean, what
the hell do they know, eh?
Then there's that persky Lifetime Achievement Award from the International
Academy of Digital Artsa and Sciences given for his "three deacdes of
contributions to the internet."
But screw all that, let's accept the ridicule of a misquoted T-shirt slogan
as the actual facts, that'll be a lot simpler.
Joe F.