Does anyone have a link about Al Gore inventing the internet?

Question

I hear certain people mock him for saying he invented the internet, just wondering if there was proof of it.

Answer 1

He said that he 'took the initiative in creating the Internet.'

Answer 2

Stephanie, I assume you have a computer as you are on yahoo answers. A simple search on yahoo brought up 2300 hits. The following is from one of them from a liberal biased site.

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He was pretty much the "Alpha Geek" in the senate from the early 80's, sponsoring and promoting internet related legislation and helping remove the legal obstacles to make the modern internet possible.

While the claim, "I invented the internet," is exaggeration to the point of hubris, Gore was instrumental in the rapid growth of the information superhighway and with Bill Bradley led the group of technogeeks which became known as the "Atari Democrats."

During an interview with Wolf Blitzer last in March 1999, Gore said, 'During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the internet.'

The claim is essentially true - of course it would have been more precise to say 'funding the creation' rather than 'creating'. 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.

The story that Gore said he 'invented' the internet was created by Dick Armey, a Republican member of Congress. Armey's imaginary wording was then picked up by the media, since what Gore actually said wasn't a good enough story. It was often combined with the stories that Gore claimed to have discovered Love Canal(also phony), or that he said that he had inspired 'Love Story' (yes, phony), to produce the theory that Gore is an obsessive fibber.>>

So did he say he invented it no. Did he say it was his initiative that created it yes. I don't see all that much of a distinction. What I really find interesting is that this statement was made to distinguish himself against his opponent Bill Bradley. Bill Bradley was the co-sponsor of the same legislation, they both share equal credit for essentially saying, "yep that sounds like a good idea". Yet he portrays it as his "creative initiative".

Look past the conservative spin and the liberal defense and what you find is a man that engrandized an action that really had little to do with him and falsifying the extent of his influence for self-promotion.

Answer 3

HE SAID HE INVENTED THE INTERNET BUT THAT WAS A FALSE STATEMENT. HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE INTERNET. HE PROBABLY DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO GET ON THE INTERNET.

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. [9]
Media reports surrounding this statement sometimes re-wrote it, stating that Gore claimed he "invented the internet".[10] Gore received support from members of the computer industry, however, notably Internet pioneers Vint Cerf and Robert E. Kahn. Cerf and Kahn issued the following statement on 2000-09-28 in response to the controversy:

[A]s 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.[11]
Gore, himself, poked fun at the controversy. In September 2000, as a guest on the The Late Show with David Letterman, he read a list of the "Top Ten Rejected Gore - Lieberman Campaign Slogans." Number nine on the list was: "Remember, America, I gave you the Internet, and I can take it away!" [12]

Answer 4

He never said that he "invented" the internet. He said that he was a "father" to the internet. The difference, one is a specific claim that easily can be checked, the other a general statement, closer to a figure of speech. And indeed, he championed bills in the 1980's as a senator that provided funding to help make the internet what it is today.

Answer 5

That isn't exactly what he said - he claimed to have been instrumental to the legislation that led to the creation of the Internet. The problem is that he wasn't in any position close enough to have been influential to that process at the time.

The exact quote was, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." It's not exactly a lie, but it grossly exaggerates his impact; he was not even close to an initiator, merely one of several Congresscritters eager to take credit for promoting a system which was *ALREADY IN PROGRESS* without any government intervention.

Answer 6

Al Gore hasn't invented Shiat!

Answer 7

Gore never claimed that he invented the Internet. This is another vicious lie that keeps getting repeated by ignorant and hateful people who have no regard for the truth.

Answer 8

Nobody does, cause he never said it!

He took the innitiative in congress to fund the invention of the internet.

Answer 9

When Mr.Gore said that, he mean't that he was bringing
politics to the internet. I admit, he could have worded it
better, but you know the bashers - they take anything they can
out of context & run with it. They have no shame.

Answer 10

He invented global warming too