'I took the initiative in creating the Internet,' Gore said in 1999. No invention: Gore's Internet honor

If you invent the Internet, you should probably get some sort of recognition, right?

Former Veep Al Gore is now getting a bit of credit for his infamous 1999 claim that “I took the initiative in creating the Internet”: He’ll be one of the first inductees into the Internet Hall of Fame.


The names were announced Monday at the Internet Society’s Global INET 2012 conference in Geneva, Switzerland, and Gore was placed in the “Global Connectors” category for having “made significant contributions to the global growth and use of the Internet.”

( See also: Al Gore’s 5 best lines about the Internet)

The group’s description of Gore states: “Al Gore, the 45th Vice President of the United States, was a key proponent of sponsoring legislation that funded the expansion of and greater public access to the Internet. Instrumental in helping to create the ‘Information Superhighway,’ Gore was one of the first government officials to recognize that the Internet’s impact could reach beyond academia to fuel educational and economic growth as well.”

Other inductees: Paul Baran, Vint Cerf, Danny Cohen, Steve Crocker, Donald Davies, Elizabeth Feinler, Charles Herzfeld, Robert Kahn, Peter Kirstein, Leonard Kleinrock, John Klensin, Jon Postel, Louis Pouzin, Lawrence Roberts, Mitchell Baker, Tim Berners-Lee, Robert Cailliau, Van Jacobson, Lawrence Landweber, Paul Mockapetris, Craig Newmark, Raymond Tomlinson, Linus Torvalds, Philip Zimmermann, Randy Bush, Kilnam Chon,Nancy Hafkin, Geoff Huston, Brewster Kahle, Daniel Karrenberg, Toru Takahashi, and Tan Tin Wee.

“This historic assembly of Internet visionaries, innovators, and leaders represents an extraordinary breadth of vision and work,” said Internet Society President and CEO Lynn St.Amour. “While the inductees have extremely diverse backgrounds and represent many different countries, each individual has an incredible passion for their work. We all benefit from their outstanding contributions to a global Internet, making it one of the greatest catalysts of economic and societal development of all time.”

Gizmodo reviewed the list and offered its own suggestions of who else should be included in the list. One nomination that might catch the eye of politicos: Matt Drudge.

“How did Americans even discuss politics before the internet — or the Drudge Report?” writes the website. “Matt Drudge, the unabashedly opinionated web links magnate, reinvented the way the media covers modern politics. He helped make blogging a significant source of news, and his incendiary style gave new life to the art of the headline itself. Plus, he has a cool siren."

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