Did Al Gore Invent the Internet?

Lynch and Rose (1993) provide a detailed outline of thedefined.  To design a network consisting of different
history of the Internet. The Internet is not new, nor is itremote computers, researchers had to develop an
a single entity; it was born about 35 years ago as aidea to solve contrasting manufacture’s networking
U.S. Defense Deparment network called APRnet. protocols, data lines, and hardware, etc.  The result of
Krol (1992) states that the “APRAnet was antheir toils was TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol
experimental network designed to support militaryInternet Protocol).  It was designed to connect
research in particular, research about how to builddifferent networks to each other and still have the
networks that could withstand partial outages (likehosts to communicate with at the same time.  The
bomb attacks) and still function.”idea of E-mail was not conceived until 1971, at which
The actual experiment for the Internet did not begintime two programmers at Bolt Beranek and Newman
until 1968, when Information Processing Techniques(BBN) devised the plan of sending each other
Office (IPTO) connected computers over a sharedmessages through their computer network.
network.  This experiment focused on the hostAn Internet virus attacked the Internet, paralyzing
computers which store the data and computationalthousand of host computers on November 1st, 1988. 
resources shared by attached terminals, there was noThis incident exposed the vulnerability of the Internet,
visible attempt to create a large resource sharingand also raised the public awareness of the dark side
computer network at the time.of the electronic communication.
In 1967, a year prior to the actual experiment, FrankDue to new technologies and organizational
Westerverlt of the University of Michigan wrote arestructuring, the U.S. Defense Department decided to
research paper on how to exchange messagesput an end of the APRAnet.  Together with several
between different computers in a network setting, andnetworks such as NSFnet, NASA, and the Department
how to select the types of communications lines andof Energy, the main backbone networks for the
data sets.  An ad hoc communication Group wasInternet was formed.  Al Gore didn’t invent the
then selected to experiment on the connectionInternet (he never said he did), but he was the first
between computers by dial-up telephone line, based onpolitician to promote this technology.  I guess that we
Westerville’s paper. have to thank the U. S. Defense Department for
In late 1969, a symmetrical host to host protocol,creating the original Internet, and thank Al Gore for
commonly known as Network Protocol was finallypromoting this technology.