Al Gore and the Internet

By Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf

Al Gore was the first political leader to recognize the importance of the
Internet and to promote and support its development.

No one person or even small group of persons exclusively "invented" the
Internet. It is the result of many years of ongoing collaboration among
people in government and the university community. But as the two people
who designed the basic architecture and the core protocols that make the
Internet work, we would like to acknowledge VP Gore's contributions as a
Congressman, Senator and as Vice President. No other elected official, to
our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over a longer period of
time.

Last year the Vice President made a straightforward statement on his role.
He said: "During my service in the United States Congress I took the
initiative in creating the Internet." We don't think, as some people have
argued, that Gore intended to claim he "invented" the Internet. Moreover,
there is no question in our minds that while serving as Senator, Gore's
initiatives had a significant and beneficial effect on the still-evolving
Internet. The fact of the matter is that Gore was talking about and
promoting the Internet long before most people were listening. We feel it
is timely to offer our perspective.


http://web.eecs.umich.edu/~fessler/m...y/gore,net.txt


Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf
Robert Elliot "Bob" Kahn (born December 23, 1938) is an American electrical engineer, who, along with Vint Cerf, invented the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP), the fundamental communication protocols at the heart of the Internet.

Vinton Gray Cerf[1] ForMemRS, (/ˈsɜːrf/; born June 23, 1943) is an American Internet pioneer, who is recognized as one of[6] "the fathers of the Internet",[7] sharing this title with TCP/IP co-inventor Bob Kahn.[8][9] His contributions have been acknowledged and lauded, repeatedly, with honorary degrees and awards that include the National Medal of Technology,[1] the Turing Award,[10] the Presidential Medal of Freedom,[11] the Marconi Prize and membership in the National Academy of Engineering.

Understanding how it all works is not that easy. I'll look for something in youtube if there is enough interest.